FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Though the mental molding of Mana remains the same regardless of what the desired spell may be, the actual release of the shape upon the corporeal world will differ depending on how the spell is intended to be applied. For instance, to produce a flame a magus only needs to release the molded Mana, whereas enchanting requires the enchanter to weave the Manashape into the matter of the object while making sure the shape remains intact. Due to this, the following Schools have developed over the years, each one concerned with a different application of molded Mana, and each with its subset of Classes.

* School of Elemental Magic:

This School deals with the conjuring and mastery over the six (some claim seven) basic energies of magic. This is the most basic form of magic, and many magi never progress any further than this School since it already offers a wide variety of abilities.

Classes included in this school are Heat, Vibrations, Light, Electricity, Gravity, and Spirit. (Some include Time as well.)

* School of Morphing:

This School deals with the ability to alter the properties of a non-organic object. This is easier than the School of Natural Magic, as inorganic materials are by nature not corrosive towards Manashapes. Therefore such changes are usually permanent, at least until the matter in question is naturally altered. For example, an enchanted metal will lose all its magical abilities when it is melted again.

Classes included in this school are Shaping, Binding, and Casting.

* School of Natural Magic:

This School deals with weaving molded Mana into an organic substance. This may either be some reagent or material of organic origin or a still living entity. This is more difficult than it seems, as without due care organic materials always break Manashapes down into its unmolded state and thereby neutralizing the spell altogether. For this reason, the spells in this School are never permanent unless it can be bound into a non-organic talisman or charm.

Classes included in this school are Healing and Curing, Augmentations, Alterations (Shapeshifting) and Consumables.

* School of Runery:

This is considered the most difficult of all the Schools, as it requires proper knowledge of either Morphing or Natural Magic along with skills unique to this School. Runery is the embedding of a pre-existing spell into some non-organic object with the intent to release said spell either continuously or as a single event at a determined time with the use of a predetermined action or a spoken phrase. The embedding of a spell is usually achieved with the use of runes (which in themselves are not magical) to capture the conscious intent of the enchantment so that the wielder of the object does not need to be trained how to mold Mana.

Classes included in this school are Triggerrunes, Charms, and Enchantments.

* The Forbidden Arts:

A collection of spells banished from use and research by the Laws of Magic as determined by the peace negotiations after the Bloodstorm and the Firefields, as well as those agreed on by a sitting of the Circle of Five. The punishment for practising any of these spells can range from community service to sequestering the magus in question against gathering any Mana temporary (effectively removing any magical ability for a time) to even execution.

Classes included in this school are Curses, Summoning, Mind-bending, Morturing and Classified spells [which include spells such as Creovita, Immortalis and Manamorphosis]."

• Extract from "Introduction to Magic" often given to aspiring apprentices starting their tuition in magic at one of the towers of the Circle of Five.

---

There was an energetic sense of excitement amongst the group of dragons and riders as they stood huddled together on the open training ground that they had cleared a week ago already. Those assembled chatted haltingly to each other, using the few words and phrases they had already learnt from one another. Yet, though communication was still awkward, the language barrier did little to dampen the mood.

Even Alex was in good cheer. Though he was rather upset at having 'lost his riding dragon' it seemed to have been a good idea to pair him up with the more energetic Aesu. The young fox seemed to be a good match for the one gryphon in their group and the two laughed like old friends as Aesu's saddle was checked a second time. Indeed, everyone was busy fiddling and refastening the harnesses they had used to travel over the Catarrum Mountains, and the tetrapods were stretching their wings in nervous excitement.

For just over a week now, they had mostly just been busy with basic training and to shift experiences around a bit, practising with makeshift weapons against one another. And when they were not busy with either of that, it was clearing the field where the mentors intended to build their semi-permanent headquarters, or gathering needed supplies such as timber and stone from the surrounding area. Only a few items, such as the important tools had to be bought from visiting merchants coming to the Tower, but overall they tried to be as self-sufficient as possible. And that meant the site was developing arduously slowly and a lot of hard, physical labour for all.

But today was different.

Today, they would be receiving their very first lesson in riding on the wing.

Today, they will take one of the most important steps toward becoming truly the Lúgroccae!

"Master ... er ... Roc-Roccan'her Harald mentioned something about you specializing in augmentation?" Lekreh asked in a hushed voice as he came to stand by the green magus who was still hanging about the group.

"Yeees..." Adulf admitted, the wolf frowning suddenly a little worried at the golden gryphon who had approached him.

"Any chance you can give me a little ... boost?" the gryphon asked with a covert glance at the group of trainees again to make sure he was not heard by any of the dragons. However, they were eagerly trying to show off their wingspan or the strength of their wing-beats, so it appeared that he might be getting away with whatever he was planning.

"Why?" the wolf asked, not liking where this was going. "Surely you won't need it!" The gryphon and his rider were after all requested all the way from the central Garbanan to train this crazy bunch of Dragonriders in flying as a team.

"I've fought against dragons once or twice before, yes!" Lekreh admitted with a clack of his beak. "But then we were always in teams of at least five gryphons. Now, I'm alone and I'm going to be facing five dragons at once. Every bit will help, I think."

"Oh, you're safe!" the green magus dismissed his worry with a friendly scoff. "They won't attack you. In fact, they are quite eager to learn how you fly combat with a rider. I've heard from a very reliable source that it has been the only thing they've been talking since last night."

"But I need to teach them more than that," Lekreh replied worriedly. "And that is where the problem lies."

"What are you planning?" the wolf whispered worriedly, leaning in closer to the gryphon.

"You'll see," the gryph grinned a little too conspicuous in trying to hide his nerves from the magus. "Now can you help me or not?"

"And what augmentations did you have in mind?" Adulf dared to ask.

"Can you make me ... invulnerable?" Lekreh asked hopefully.

"No!" the magus dashed the gryphon's hopes immediately with a firm shake of his head. "Charms cannot give you abilities that you do not possess, only enhance what you already have and even then only so much. For instance, I cannot give you the ability to spit fire like these dragons, unless I change your very being for a bit. What I can do, is make your skin tougher, though you'll still bleed when one of them gets their claws into you. Or I can make you stronger, but you won't be able to pick one of them up."

"That will do nicely," the gryphon actually managed to grin with that rigid beak of his. "I'll take both, I think!"

"They are friendly enough if you stay on their good side," Adulf started to say with a defeated sigh. With a quick thought, he recalled the needed shapes and started to mold Mana. "But they are still proud creatures. I advise you not to push them too hard."

"I'll try," Lekreh chirped softly, fascinated by the process as he sensed the Mana taking shape. He shot the group of trainees another glance to make sure his little dirty trick would not be noticed. "Oh, and keep a good healing spell or two at the ready as well, if you please."

At that, the shape the wolf was busy creating disintegrated completely. "Wait!" he said sternly. "Before I do anything, run by me exactly what you had in mind."

The gryphon gave the wolf a long, annoyed stare, before admitting defeat with a sigh.

"Well, ..." he started to whisper into the magus's ear.

Not too far away from where her steed and the green magus was talking, Glenn caught sight of the silvery mate of the Lúg'hir, who stood to one side looking a little left out in the cold. She remained adamant that she would not be fighting anytime soon and had no intentions of wearing a saddle. Not that arguing would have done any good, as there were no more riders to choose from. As the silvery draine looked about at the bustling, she caught sight of the gryphon-knight and the human gave her an acknowledging nod. When the draine returned the acknowledgement, she walked over to her.

"Lainah, is it?" Glenn asked.

"That is correct, madam," Lainah replied crisply and Glenn just knew they could become good friends.

"I am Glenn," she introduced herself formally. "It is a pleasure to finally speak to you directly."

"Likewise," Lainah smiled, though she turned her attention towards the Lúg'hir. The nearly black dragon stood out with his iridescent green scales amongst the excited group of trainees.

"I understand you will be translating for us?" Glenn asked, also turning her attention to the trainees, but looking them over as an entire group.

"That is correct," Lainah agreed. "Only Gahntuar and I can speak the common tongue fluently, and he will be busy with the training himself, while I won't be. Oh, and Gahntuar's first mate can also speak common fluently that is, but she has difficulty speaking and will not be able to fly with you." She gave a momentarily glare at the strange, one-winged draine who sat by herself on the side of the training grounds before ignoring her and returning her attention to the assembled dragons. "The other dragons have started to pick up a word here or a phrase there, but it will still be a while before they get a hang of the language."

The draine turned her full attention to the human next to her.

"Why do you ask?" she asked firmly.

"I just need to confirm with you that you will translate what Lekreh says exactly," Glenn said equally firmly. "And I mean, exactly!"

"Will there be things I may be ... uncomfortable with?" Lainah asked a little worriedly, understanding immediately that this session would probably not be such a great time as the other dragons seemed to be thinking it would be.

"Most likely," Glenn agreed, sounding a little distracted as she looked sideways to the gryph. The magus with him had started to rub his hands over Lekreh's shoulder, seeming to pay special attention to the stronger part of the limb. "Make that definitely!" she corrected herself firmly. "But they are things the trainees will need to hear and understand, I am afraid."

"I'll ... do as you ask," Lainah complied, deciding to trust the mentors to do the job they were brought here for.

Glenn fell silent again and Lainah turned her attention back to Laethia where the black draine had now sat down, obviously intending to watch the training. She narrowed her eyes at the draine but did not do anything else. She didn't know what to think about Gahntuar's sister and the mother of his first hatchlings sticking around here. True, Jenour had told her the story and at the time she thought it was peculiar but seeing the draine herself irked her for some reason. Was it jealousy? The rest of the Lúgroccae, of course, didn't know who she exactly was, because when Amaren had first seen her, he immediately called her 'mother' during a very emotional reunion. So now she was known to the rest of the group only as Gahntuar's first mate, a position that seems to have given her an immediate form of respect amongst them. But as his current mate, Lainah was also highly respected by the other trainees alike.

Of course, Laethia's personality had shifted completely from the self-loathing creature they had encountered in the cave that first day. She seemed eager to live again and came out regularly to see how the facilities were progressing and to even offer assistance with the knowledge she had acquired from the Amber Tower's library. Roccan'her Harald had quickly seen the value in her knowledge and was eager to make use of that in setting up the camp here. But on the other hand, he and Roccan'her Eric also looked toward herself and Gahntuar to help them keep the rowdy dragons in check.

No, she was not jealous! She was just ... still upset with the first impressions they had received from her that first day. That's all.

Her musings were interrupted when Lekreh suddenly joined Glenn next to her.

"Are we ready?" Glenn asked the gryphon, who for his part seemed like he had just caught a prized prey.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess!" Lekreh grinned, though he still looked back at the group of trainees with a slightly guilty look. "I would have preferred to prepare where we won't be seen, but until we have some proper training facilities, I guess we'll have to improvise. Just hope no-one saw me with the druid!"

"Right then," Glenn commented, signalling to Eric with a quick nod. "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Company!" Roccan'her Eric called as usual to the assembled group. "Atten-tion!" And as usual, the riders in training started to take up positions next to their assigned dragons, who also started to arrange themselves neatly in a row as Eric had instructed them that first day in Corrumwhell. Though the aura of excited anticipation seemed to increase in intensity, they still moved leisurely and unhurried. And that just wouldn't do!

"Your sergeant has given you an order!" the usually friendly gryphon suddenly roared angrily from where he stood next to Lainah. "Is this what you pathetic lot call 'Getting to Attention'? MOVE IT, before I'm forced to encourage you!"

Lekreh gave a warning snap of his beak towards a nearby rider, who just happened to be the young fox. Though not nearly dangerous, the action still had surprised the bipeds and lone gryphon into action and they scattered hastily to get to their steeds, wherever they were at that moment. Lainah was so taken aback by the sudden outburst that she completely forgot to translate, so most of the dragons, of course, could not understand the full content of their mentor's order and they stopped completely still to stare in disbelief at the gryphon's strange behaviour. Even Gahntuar was caught off guard by the change in demeanour and stared at him, his crest slowly rising in shock.

Though most of the dragons didn't understand what was happening, something of the threat seemed to have carried over. It was difficult to tell whether it was in reaction to either Gahntuar and Lainah's reaction, or a slow realization that there was some kind of threat posed to their riders. But the excited mood of only a minute ago had completely evaporated, leaving behind a slowly building anger as the dragons stood their ground and only raised their crests in a display of agitation.

"That goes for you lizards as well!" Lekreh roared, completely uncaring about what the dragons would think of that insult. "MOVE IT!"

It was only when Glenn cleared her throat that Lainah recalled her roll. But was she supposed to be translating ... that? The draine raised a questioning eyebrow at the human, who only nodded in return. More than a little unsure about this turn of events, Lainah did as she was asked as best she could, including rude hisses and snaps of her jaws in her translation in the hopes of conveying the message properly across. Of course, it didn't have quite the impact she expected the gryphon had intended, as she was a little late and the riders have already taken their position wherever their steeds had stood.

Still, the insults did what they were intended to do. Even as Lainah was talking, a series of low growls of irritation was building in the clearing. The obvious threat unnerved Lainah, and she felt her own crest raise in defiance even though she was only translating the idiotic gryphon's ranting. Yet, the one responsible for the sudden hostility seemed completely unaffected by the challenges directed at him. If anything, the gryphon seemed rather ... pleased with the results. Only, his next words didn't portray any of his emotions.

"Do you scale-heads call this a straight line?" he continued his tirade. "Pathetic! How do you expect to fly straight if you cannot even tell where to stand when everything is motionless?"

If the dragons had been angry, they were furious now. When Lainah translated, Jerielle burst out in a string of snarls, hisses and baring of her teeth at the gryphon. Whatever she said it was not friendly and Amaren agreed with her wholeheartedly. The emotions were running so high that even the more timid Tembarah was growling in agreement. For his part, Gahntuar was arguing loudly with Merec, who was trying and failing to calm his dragon down, though he was also obviously not impressed.

"We did not come here to be insulted by a puny jigsaw puzzle like you!" Lainah translated Jerielle's challenge. An insult like that usually had gryphons seeing red, and Lekreh had no idea where she even came by it. But he only grinned like he was the one who won the argument. Still, he rounded on the red draine with a challenging clack of his beak.

"Is that the best you got? I would ..."

It is probably the universally understood challenge of his beak clacking that did it. Before Lainah could even think of how to translate, Jerielle pounced Lekreh and swatted at him with a claw. The golden gryphon didn't even need the extra speed his augmented strength gave him to step back and out of reach of the attack. He had been baiting her after all and even if he hadn't been expecting it, it was a poorly executed strike of an overconfident attacker he could see a mile off. And for good measure, while she was off balance he returned her strike, drawing a thin line of blood across her snout that he knew stung like fire.

"Disgraceful!" Lekreh sneered with obvious disdain. "Are you dragons or are you still whelps who starts spitting flames whenever something is not to your liking?"

Ironically, that comment caught Gahntuar completely off guard and he ceased his argument with Merec entirely. Instead, he sat down next to his confused human, who apparently had not heard the gryphon, to wait and see what the gryphon intended. The other dragons didn't see past the fact that it was another insult and Amaren was next to snap his teeth at the gryphon. Though a little better, it was yet another predictable attack and this time Lekreh easily twisted out of the way. Before the drake could recover from the missed strike, the gryphon landed a firm blow against the black drake's ear. Here, the augmented strength the gryphon received from the green magus helped and Amaren crumpled to the ground dazed. Seeing her mate collapse, Tembarah hesitated, but Jerielle lunged again at the gryphon. This time she had used the opportunity to strike when he was distracted and only the augmented strength induced speed helped Lekreh dodge beneath the attack in time.

Instead of knocking her out as well when she was off guard, the gryphon took to the air as the draine recovered. Still seeing red, she followed, forgetting that in the air the gryphon had the advantage. With superior agility and better-trained reflexes, he was more manoeuvrable than her and landed several firm strikes at her side. Nothing serious of course, but it still irritated her enough to resort to spitting a deadly arch of fire at him. The attack was of course more a show of frustration than a carefully planned action as it was flung wide, uncaring of who was hit by it. Quite easy for the experienced gryphon to dodge in fact, and when her fire had to cease, he was on top of her. A firm, strength augmented punch to one of her wingshoulder numbed it and she fell gracelessly from the sky.

Lekreh landed on top of her, claws against her throat just as Amaren was getting to his feet with a shake of his head.

"Two dragons, defeated by one creature half your size!" Lekreh announced triumphantly. "Pathetic! No wonder you are losing ground to the Umbrins on all sides!"

As Lainah translated, all the assembled dragons flinched at his words and looked down ashamed. Sensing he had their attention where he wanted it, Lekreh let Jerielle go and nodded to Adulf to tend to the two beaten dragons. The green magus made quick work of his healing and in no time at all, the dragons were back on their feet. However, their demeanour had shifted yet again from angry to humiliated, and they refused to meet the gryphon's gaze.

"As long as you are receiving training from us, Roccan'her Harald, Roccan'her Eric, Roccan'her Glenn and myself are your commanding officers!" Lekreh shouted with the authority of a Theos as he passed to and fro in front of them. "You will do as you are told when you are told! Without hesitation or argument! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" the group mumbled, too humiliated to put any effort into their reply. Again, that just wouldn't do!

"I said: DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?" Lekreh repeated himself forcefully.

"YES SIR!" the group responded loudly, more worried about upsetting this gryphon than truly being eager about it. That will have to do for now!

"We are here to impart our knowledge and skill to you so that you will be able to survive the next few years!" Lekreh continued loudly. "Therefore, you will not argue with us! You will NEVER strike at any of us like this again! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"YES, SIR!"

"Good!" Lekreh purred, actually impressed that he didn't have to repeat himself again. "Now, let's try that again! Roccan'her Eric?"

"Company!" the old dragonslayer started to call them to attention again. Though he had some difficulty not to be smirking at the dragons' expense, he was enough of a professional not to let it show. And anyway, despite his background, he had come to like these creatures, even though he considered it good that they were brought down a peg or two. They did need it a little bit after all. "Atten-tion!"

As Lekreh had hoped, his display of skill had the desired effect. This time, the entire group scrambled to their proper positions even before Lainah could translate, standing quickly in a neat row before the gryphon. To his surprise, the dragons even took up an instinctive prancing stance, standing as straight as they could with heads held high and necks sharply curled, angling their snouts down and displaying a semi-raised crest. It was the closest thing any tetrapod had to standing at attention and the gryphon was actually impressed with their ingenuity.

"Better!" he commented with a satisfied nod. It was only then that Glenn joined in with the class, leaving the safety of the silvery draine's side to walk up to her steed's side. When she reached him, she turned sharply to face her new students.

"I am Roccan'her Glenn and this is my companion and steed, Lúg'her Lekreh!" She introduced herself. She nodded towards the two beaten dragons as if in thanks. "Sal'Lúg Amaren and Sal'Lúg Jerielle have been kind enough to demonstrate one of the most important lessons we can teach you. In fact, it is so important that you will be hearing it over and over again until you have mastered it: NEVER let your emotions guide your actions! Be aware of fear and anger, but DO NOT act on them. When you do, it will get you killed!" The two mentioned dragons instinctively lowered their crest flat in shame but dared not break their prancing stance.

"Now for the first few weeks, we will be focusing on stamina, manoeuvrability and..." Glenn continued, narrowing her eyes at the riders "... airsickness! We are going to be pushing you past your limits to wring these inborn weaknesses from you like crushing juice from an orange!"

The human female gave the class one last critical look-over, before nodding in approval.

"Right, then" she decided as she turned to mount her own steed. "Let us begin."

"Saddle up!" Lekreh called to the assembled riders and they quickly moved to obey.

***

The group who returned from their flight was a far cry from the excited assembly of trainees that morning.

The dragons practically dropped from the sky as they landed hard enough to shake their riders uncomfortably about. They were all tired and sore after the extreme physical exertion the lunatic human and gryphon pair had put them through. Some even seemed to have trouble folding their wings neatly against their sides and even Lainah, who had to join them to translate orders from their mentors seemed like she had been put through her paces ... and she did not even have to carry a rider around!

And talking about the bipeds, the riders seemed even worse off than their steeds despite not having to do as much physical exertion as the tetrapods. Even now, all the new riders were clinging to the thick necks in front of them as if for dear life, not daring to open their eyes.

Lekreh and Glenn on the other hand, land crisply and cleanly, looking no the worse for wear. True, Lekreh was a little out of breath having not flown that hard in ages, but even in his unfit state, he was more adept at the routine than they had feared. Glenn dismounted calmly and looked over the sorry bunch assembled before her with a disappointed click of her tongue.

"Dismount!" Lekreh gave the order all of them had been hoping to hear. With grateful groans, some of the riders started to undo the clasps that tied their own flight harnesses to that of their dragons while others still tried to orient themselves. Merec seemed to be a little better than the rest and he managed to get off Gahntuar's back, though he did so with more of a weak roll off the dragon's shoulders than truly climbing out of the saddle.

"I SAID ..." Lekreh started to urge them along, but a gentle touch from Glenn quieted him.

"They are moving as fast as they can," she pointed out to the overeager gryphon. "You can be harder on them when they are in better shape."

Lekreh acknowledged her point with a click of his beak, but he still folded his ear tufts back shyly as he realised he had taken to the role of drill sergeant a little too eagerly. Eventually, the group of riders had managed to dismount and was standing next to their steeds at attention. Or rather, standing a little hunched forward and leaning heavily against their dragons' shoulders. For their part, the dragons did manage to stand at attention, though a little awkwardly as they were worried about their riders and covertly tried to offer any assistance.

"Not bad for a first attempt!" Glenn praised the unsteady group before becoming serious again. "But you still have a long way to go before you are ready to even start your training. Now, take the time to recover and riders, go clean up your steeds. Report back here for your lessons with Roccan'her Eric in an hour! Understood?"

"Yes, madam!" the assembled group replied. The answer was very much disorganized and a little soft, but it was the best they were capable of at that moment.

"Good!" Glenn smiled. "You're dismissed!"

"Company!" Lekreh announced. "Fall out!"

The sorry group of trainees relaxed immediately and eagerly started to make their way down to the river to rest and wash up. Or at least as quickly as their weak legs permitted. Only Gahntuar and Merec remained behind, quickly walking up to where Lekreh and Glenn were discussing how their students had faired. Even though he was doing better than the other riders, Merec was still a little weak from the airsickness and lagged slightly behind his dragon.

"Was it really necessary to push us that hard?" Gahntuar asked calmly, but a slight growl still slipped through.

"Watch your tone, recruit!" Lekreh snapped, still in full drill sergeant mode. For added effect, he puffed his feathers up irritably as he stared down the black dragon. But the gryphon deflated suddenly when the dragon reacted only with an eyebrow raised in question and he suddenly realised Gahntuar was speaking to them as the Lúg'hir and not a student.

The gryphon flinched and bowed his head in submission with a quick apology. It was a strange arrangement that they all wasn't sure how to approach, being both a superior and subordinate of the dragon at the same time. Hopefully, Gahntuar and Merec's training won't take too long and they can take their role as proper leaders of this new group so that this confusing situation can be resolved.

"We have extensive experience in actual combat missions, so please trust our judgement," Glenn replied calmly. "You have after all requested our help in training you in aerial combat, have you not?"

"We mean the beginning of the lesson," Merec elaborated, having caught up with his dragon. "Was it necessary to pick a fight quite like that?"

"I do apologize for hitting your son," Lekreh quickly replied, now understanding what it was that bothered the two. "But we believe it was necessary. Critically so, even. As a group, the riders and dragons alike are approaching the training with a too relax mentality, which will mean that they won't give us their best and that will get them killed when they have to fight in actual combat. As for the dragons, they will see me as a weaker species so if I am to teach them anything, I needed to assert my dominance over them. And what I understand of dragons, that was the quickest way."

"You have a point there," Gahntuar admitted with an impressed rumble. Lekreh acknowledged the agreement with a slight nod himself.

"It was still a big risk you took there," Merec commented a little worriedly.

"True, but Glenn and I didn't see another option," the gryphon said. "We don't have the time to impress them with our abilities or win over their trust as you have. And," he turned to Gahntuar "I apologize if it may sound crude, but you are a too proud species and must be taught a bit of humility. They must learn to obey orders without question and not to resolve what they don't agree with through violence."

Gahntuar's crest rose in indignation, but then he calmed himself again. During the final fighting at Corrumwhell, he had nearly snapped at Merec when his pride was wounded. And yet the human had only tried to warn him of the approaching reinforcements. What would have happened had he not recognized the threat in time himself? What the gryphon said was true, whether he liked to admit it to himself or not. And the first step in fixing a problem was always to admit it existed.

"I understand that the two of you have a firm bond and that you can talk things through that you don't agree with each other," Glenn elaborated on her steed's words, oblivious to Gahntuar's musings. "But in the heat of battle, that is not an option. You must make a decision immediately and follow it through, or die."

"No, I understand," Gahntuar rumbled with a respectful nod of his head himself. "Thank you, Lúg'her, Roccan'her!"

"Thank you for your help!" Merec agreed. "We will respect your decisions in the future."

"Thank you, sir," Lekreh replied with a pleased trill.

"Don't think that will make us take it easier on you," Glenn joked. "You may be the Lúg'hir and Roccan'hir, but when you are in our class, we are in command."

"That would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?" Merec agreed with a laugh, but a nervous glance at his dragon made it clear that he was still a little worried about the training to come.

"If you will excuse us," Gahntuar suddenly rumbled determinedly "Merec needs to come clean up the mess he has made." He emphasized the statement with a scowl as he sniffed at the bile splattered against his shoulder.

"Of course," Glenn agreed, still smirking.

Gahntuar and Merec turned and started to head towards the river when Lainah joined them. To the silvery draine's slight irritation, Laethia immediately joined them as well.

"Are you okay?" Lainah asked, also sniffing at the mess on Gahntuar's shoulder.

"Of course," Gahntuar smiled. "It just stinks!"

"I meant Merec!" Lainah commented.

"I'll be better in a moment," Merec admitted. "I'm already much better than when we landed."

"Why did you do that though?" Laethia questioned in her gravelly voice.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Merec insisted with a weak smile.

"It appears to be an instinctual thing for creatures who are not supposed to be flying, or so I am told!" Gahntuar explained, nosing Merec along to urge him faster towards the river. He wanted this stuff gone before it completely dried on his scales.

"I'll consult the library at the Amber Tower to see if there is anything we can do to help," Laethia commented, wrinkling her snout when she dared to sniff at the mess as well.

"That will be welcome," Gahntuar smiled "but I understand that the only sure way for them to stop is to train it out of them." Merec groaned at that, making Gahntuar laugh merrily at the human's expense. With a quick nuzzle, he tried to offer some comfort. However, that playful streak of his struck again. "Remind me again who it was that always tried to get me to wear a saddle?"

"This is not what I had in mind, though!" Merec admitted with an upset grumble.

"Who told you about this sickness?" Laethia asked curiously.

"Iago!" Gahntuar replied quickly. "A gryphon friend I made while I was staying on the Peninsula. He has some authority and associated responsibilities in the human town there and couldn't join us on our journey here!"

"It is still strange to think that you lived for years on the Peninsula of all places!" Laethia commented a little awed. "Jenour would have been so jealous of your audacity!"

"It wasn't as easy as we would have liked, though!" Merec quickly commented with a sigh. "But I guess we made it work ... kind of."

"Until we had to come here, that is!" Lainah grumbled, feeling a little left out of the conversation.

"And that is what worries me," Laethia commented.

Gahntuar suddenly stopped to look at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Merec asked.

"You described how rumours of your fight with Segrien and the orcs had spread across the entire Selebore," Laethia started to explain. "And how it caused everyone to come search for you at that little town."

"The people of the town can explain to anyone that we have relocated to the Amber Tower ..." Merec started to explain when he was interrupted by a surprised snort from Gahntuar.

"But not to dragons!" he gasped.

"I have tried to avoid any news from the rest of the continent," Laethia admitted, her crest flat in shame. "But that doesn't mean that other dragons won't also be heading to the Peninsula hoping to find you! Like Jerielle, Amaren and Tembarah did!"

"Oh, no!" Merec also suddenly realised the huge mistake they had made. "They will come, looking for a dragon to talk to and no-one from town will be able to point them in the right direction before the Alliance get to them."

"Someone will need to go back to help guide any dragons that arrive there, here!" Laethia stated. "At least until everyone knows to come here instead of going to the Peninsula!"

"Or at least until we can leave them some message behind for them to follow!" Lainah suggested, worried about where this topic would lead. But the irritating black draine had an important point, one that they couldn't ignore.

"That is an important thing to consider, thank you!" Gahntuar rumbled in agreement, though everyone could see that he was deeply troubled by the situation.

"We'll have to think of a possible solution, and quick as well," Merec insisted. "I'll ask sir ... Roccan'her Harald tonight if he has any ideas that may be of help."

"Thank you, that will help as well," Gahntuar rumbled, nuzzling Merec affectionately. But then he gave the human a forceful shove towards the river again. "But in the meantime, we need to go wash up and get ready for our next training session!"

***

Gahntuar sat comfortably on his haunches like only a predator can, with Merec nestled between his forelegs and leaning back comfortably against the thick scutes of his chest. They sat there, waiting patiently as Roccan'her Harald stared off over the nearby building site. Plans for a small barracks that were meant to house ten dragons and their riders were set up there with stakes and yarn, but the actual building of the structure was yet to start. The older man was sitting nearly opposite them in the small circle they had created, considering the gravity of the question the Lúg'hir's first mate had raised.

Next to him sat Glenn and Lekreh, fidgeting worriedly.

"We never even considered that!" Lekreh admitted, his ear tufts folded back in regret. "We were so engrossed in getting off the Peninsula before the Alliance got to us, we didn't think about anyone friendly who would come looking for us!"

"I just assumed they will hear we had moved to the Amber Tower like anyone else!" Glenn admitted.

"None of us did!" Gahntuar agreed, his crest also flat in shame. "We all were just reacting to the moment." He looked up to lock eyes with the black draine. "It was only Laethia here who had thought ahead."

Laethia smiled shyly at the positive attention she was not used to but did not comment on the praise. She only smiled momentarily at Gahntuar and then looked away to where Lainah was busy softly translating to the other three dragons.

"But now that we know about the situation, surely we need to do something!" Aerhin insisted. The elf and Jerielle's new rider looked around the circle as if in a challenge. There was a moment's awkward silence before Amaren rumbled something.

"Amaren asked what we can do?" Lainah translated for him. "Jerielle says that the only option she can think of is to send someone back to warn the dragons who will try to make contact with the Lúg'hir."

Gahntuar rumbled and hissed something in reply, but then translated himself before Lainah could do it for him. "We thought of that, but the problem is that there are limited options of whom to send. Firstly, the candidate needs to be someone who can speak draconic, so that eliminates everyone present here, except for the dragons and possibly Merec. Secondly, of all the dragons only Lainah and I know the region around Corrumwhell well enough to hide from the Alliance and Royal Gryphon-knights alike."

"But as you all know, Gahntuar and I cannot leave the Amber Tower, as per the order of the archmagus!" Merec grumbled disappointed, not looking at anyone in particular.

"Nor should you!" Roccan'her Harald quickly insisted. "You are the leaders of the Lúgroccae, and it will be very unprofessional and irresponsible to leave us alone at this moment. Even if it is to possibly save lives."

"Which leaves Lúg'her Lainah as the only candidate!" Gahntuar stated with an unhappy growl, obviously not liking the idea of being separated from her.

"But that is only one option," Merec suddenly commented, making Gahntuar look sharply at him with his crest raised in interest.

"What else did you consider?" Glenn managed to ask before the dragon could open his jaws.

"Well," Merec started, now suddenly a little unsure of his idea. "Master Jonnon in the Amber Tower was talking of the various schools of magic during our initiation yesterday. Amongst others, he mentioned something called Telephonics?"

"Telephonics is the ability to recreate sounds exactly within a charm," Adulf quickly explained, understanding exactly what the human had considered. "It was often used to warn people away from dangerous places during the Golden Age. Are you thinking of creating a charm that can be used to explain to any dragon that you relocated here?" When Merec nodded, the wolf only frowned. "It might have worked, but there is no way to refill it with Mana, so it will only have a limited number of uses."

"Tembarah reminded us that the humans will still need time to gain the trust of the dragon in question before they can use that charm!" Lainah quickly translated another problem.

"So that is a bust!" Gahntuar growled upset again.

"What about training someone to act as a sentinel?" Eric suddenly suggested. "Merec here looks like he is rather good with the dragon language, so we can have one of the ... what?" The equine glared at Jerielle, who started to giggle when the silvery draine started to translate his suggestion.

"I have had over a year to learn the language," Merec reminded him with a smirk as well "and there are still a lot of nuances I get wrong, which changes the meaning of the sentence completely."

"He keeps on saying he shits on the language instead of saying he is bad at it!" Gahntuar snitched with a playful nip at his human. Everyone laughed at Merec's expense, who had no reply and could only sit there with a bright red face.

"Point is," Merec continued with a slightly louder voice to get the conversation back on track "it will take too long to train one of the townsfolk to converse properly with dragons. On the other hand, any dragon who stays by the town will need to be able to speak to the humans if they are to avoid the Alliance with any guaranteed success. That as well will take too long to teach them."

"Not necessarily," Lainah quickly added hopefully. "The dragon in question can just be shown where the best hiding and hunting spots are, and they need to react as quickly as possible to any dragons who announce themselves. It will help if the dragon can use a few human words, but I don't think it is that critical. However, Gahntuar or I will still need to show that dragon where those locations are."

"So, we come back to Lúg'her Lainah returning to the Peninsula?" Roccan'her Harald pointed out with a sigh.

"Only for a short while," Lainah tried to cheer herself and Gahntuar up. "I can take Tembarah with me to show her how it is done ..." She turned to look at the timid draine and was surprised when she caught sight of Tembarah's worried expression at the suggestion. "Or maybe get one of the dragons who come to Corrumwhell to take over from me," she suggested an alternative. "The problem I have with this idea is that I am the one doing the translations for the other dragons, and it will be a while before they understand enough of the common language to follow the lessons."

"I can take the translations over for you," Laethia quickly growled, a hint of excitement colouring her voice.

"Are you sure?" Lainah growled suspiciously but still spoke with respect towards the black draine. "You have difficulty speaking as it is."

"But I want to help!" Laethia insisted with a grin. "Also, getting out of my cave might be a good idea! I've been hiding there from the world for too long!"

"It appears that this is our only option!" Roccan'her Harald stated. "Unless there are any other worries or suggestions?"

Lainah was about to argue but seeing that she had no point to stand on, she relented. After that, there was a moment of heavy silence as the assembled group looked at one another in expectation.

"It is settled then!" Merec announced, obviously not liking the decision but keeping to it either way. With a sigh, he addressed Lainah. "I'm sorry to ask this of you, but will you return to Corrumwhell then?"

"There is no other way then," Lainah sighed a little defeated. "You know I will do what I can to help. But it is already late, so I'll leave first thing in the morning then."

"Thank you," Gahntuar purred as he nuzzled Lainah affectionately. "And please be safe. I'll miss you while you are away!" They closed their eyes as they embraced each other, completely missing Laethia looking away towards the river with narrowed eyes.

"While we are meeting like this," Roccan'her Eric suddenly spoke up "there is something else I would like to discuss."

"Which is ...?" Glenn asked worriedly.

"Money, I'm guessing!" Merec sighed.

"Correct," the equine agreed with a slight nod at the Roccan'hir.

"I've spoken to Roccan'her Harald quickly about it before, but we didn't have much time to discuss it properly," Merec admitted. "I agree that this could be as good a time as any to tackle this problem."

"Amaren asks why treasures are a problem," Lainah informed the group.

"With the funds that we currently have between myself and Roccan'her Harald, we will only have enough to build a basic camp here, even though we are doing the actual building ourselves!" Roccan'her Eric stated worriedly. "Add the meagre funds the trainees have and we may be able to saddle two more dragons besides Gahntuar. And then I'm not even talking about the armour I still want to have designed for them."

"I was thinking of getting the trainees to take odd jobs," Merec suggested, but he didn't sound very sure of himself. "We all tried our hand at adventuring before, after all. But with our current training schedule, there won't be any time for that. Not to mention that I'm not allowed to leave the Amber Tower!"

"Ever since you mentioned it, I've been thinking about it as well," Roccan'her Harald admitted. "I still have a few acquaintances in Lendor I can contact for a lone."

"Will they be willing to grant you one, seeing that we technically betrayed the Peninsula by coming here?" Merec asked surprised.

"As far as I know, they are not aware that I'm affiliated with you," Roccan'her Harald grinned. "And of course, they don't need to know what I need the money for."

"Very well then, see what you can do!" Merec sighed, also not liking this turn of events very much. But he was powerless to do anything about it.

"Are there any other topics we need to discuss?" Glenn asked, sounding a little tired.

"Talking about saddles," Lekreh quickly added, earning a groan from a few of them. "When will that leathersmith who worked on Gahntuar's saddle arrive again? Don't get me wrong, the harnesses are great! But if we want to go beyond the current training, we will have to equip the dragons better."

"She needed to finish the projects she is currently working on and close up her shop," Merec replied solemnly. "Then she needs to cart her gear all the way here as well. I doubt she will arrive for another month yet. But if the saddles are urgent, we can talk to the leathersmith in the equine town nearby. Maybe we can get a discount if we can supply rawhides from the creatures the dragons hunt?"

"I think we can wait a month or so," the gryphon grinned. "We can't do much either way before the dragons are combat fit and the riders broken in."

That earned him several unimpressed groans from around the group, making him and Glenn laugh.

"Still, I think it will be a good idea to explore that avenue as well," Merec stated. "Roccan'her Glenn, will you have a look at that?"

"As you say, Roccan'hir!" Glenn replied smoothly, ignoring a quick nip from her gryphon.

"If that is all," Merec started, looking around the group staring back at him. "Then I think this meeting is over."

"Alright then," Roccan'her Eric grinned as he stood up again. "That means the break is over. Everyone, back to work!"

There were another series of tired groans, yet everyone quickly complied and returned to the building site next to where they were meeting to resume their tasks.

***

Lainah left early the next day as she had promised, disappearing towards the west again even as the deep orange sun started to show itself. Of course, she and Gahntuar had mated passionately the night before, almost as if this would be the last time they were to see each other again. Not that they truly believed it. But then again, unlike the year before, the Peninsula was now a much more dangerous place for dragons. With the Alliance fully committed to destroying them on one wing and the king bent on yoking their strength on the other, a lot more resources were now available to hunting them down. And now that he was Lúg'hir, he could appreciate much better what that exactly meant.

Not that he was worried about her. Well, not that worried at least. Lainah knew the region north of town extremely well and she had made firm friends with the people in town as well, so she would be fine. At least that is what he was telling himself now as he lay down in the soft early morning shade of the cluster of Yellowwoods that grow by a bubbling stream a little east of their new headquarters.

Still, now that she was gone he felt terribly lonely as he watched the water cascade over the series of flat boulders, letting his mind wander to dangerous thoughts. Lainah had been gone only a few hours but already he could swear that her scent was fading from his scales. To be sure, he had wanted one last romp with her as the sun started to show itself, but she had insisted on getting an early start to her journey. Merec was also not available, being with all the other riders at the Amber Tower as per their agreement with archmagus Vicia. And even for nonsexual company, Roccan'her Harald and Roccan'her Eric were not available as they had gone into town to try and handle the issue with their lack of money.

Even the other dragons were not around. True, they were a great help at the building site with lifting and moving the heavy materials, but without their riders to handle the finer work, there wasn't much they could do now other than to help get the tree trunks stripped of bark and stacked for drying. That had been quickly done and with some free time to themselves, they had flown off to explore the region a little. He could have joined them, should have joined them in fact. But at that moment with Lainah leaving, he did not feel very much in the mood for exploring.

Even the gryphons weren't around! Glenn, Lekreh and Aesu were off to meet the councils of the nearby gryphon aeries. He had suggested coming along, but they insisted that it would be best that they didn't bring a dragon along on their first visits. Something he could understand, remembering leaving the other dragons behind when he first went to negotiate accommodation with Laethia for the very same reason.

He sighed and tried to suffocate his thoughts, allowing himself to just be carried away by the bubbling of the nearby stream, down to the larger river by the camp they were building and further downstream to where he couldn't be bothered with today's troubles. He liked this place very much, with the tranquil atmosphere that helped him to relax a bit after a hard day's training. He had quickly argued with Roccan'her Eric not to have this little grove harvested as lumber for the building project a little lower down the slope. The old dragonslayer had tried to be firm about needing all the nearby timber they could get, but he had been equally firm about a place where he could just escape for a bit. Eventually, it was Roccan'her Harald who sided with Gahntuar that finally saved the trees from the overeager equine and allowed the dragon a peaceful place to unwind a bit.

Or to think to himself about the mess he had gotten himself into, as it were. How had he gotten himself into this unnatural mess in the first place? He was for sure no longer a carefree drake who could come and go as he pleased. Now suddenly, he had responsibilities to worry about that no sane dragon should have to worry. Or for that matter, no dragon ever had to worry about before now.

Except for maybe great Gullivarth himself, Gahntuar guessed with a smirk.

"You seem troubled!" a growly voice suddenly commented, making Gahntuar yelp in surprise. With a snarl, he spun around but relaxed immediately when he recognized Laethia walking up to him.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Gahntuar grumbled annoyed, giving her an evil eye. How had she become this silent?

"I wasn't sneaking!" Laethia insisted with a playful nip as he settled down again. "You just weren't paying attention!"

"I guess," he mumbled, turning his attention back to the small stream of water. "I thought Amaren and Tembarah are with you."

"No," Laethia sighed, also laying down next to the drake. "They went off exploring the nearby Gherthon Mountains with that red draine."

"Oh," Gahntuar commented a little absentmindedly. "I hope they don't get tangled up with the gryphons up there. I understand the jigsaws aren't all that happy with our presence here."

"I told them to keep more to the east of here," Laethia commented with a quick nuzzle at his neck. When he didn't respond, she pulled back to regard him. "What is the matter? The only time I have ever seen you look like this was when dad told us that I'm going to be laying your eggs!"

"I ... I'm just worrying about responsibilities dragons shouldn't worry about!" he admitted, but still couldn't help but smirk at the old memory of their childhood. Back then he had been terrified of the coming responsibilities of parenthood, and now that seemed like something minor to him. Still, he had refused to run from his responsibilities then and it had made him a better drake for it. Now, he will just have to do the same!

"Responsibilities?" Laethia prompted. "Like what?"

"Teaching times and places to stay and food and ... treasures!" Gahntuar growled as he listed off the things that had him worried. "And that is even before the Umbrins and Juinkarr!"

"Better you than me!" Laethia grinned, nipping at him playfully. "I prefer to only read about stuff like that!"

"And how is that supposed to be helping?" Gahntuar grinned as he returned the playful nip, making her giggle softly.

"Well, it lightened your mood, didn't it!" she hazarded a guess with a smirk.

"I guess," Gahntuar conceded, looking at her. "I really missed you, you know!"

"So, did I!" she agreed, pressing her snout against his jaw. "But to be serious, you'll let me know how I can help, won't you? I may not be very helpful physically, but the library has a lot of knowledge available to us."

"You help already by just being here," he replied softly, nuzzling her affectionately and receiving a deep purr from her.

"And not just for your company," he added, resting his jaws on her snout in affection. "Thank you for thinking of the dragons who are still travelling to the Peninsula. It has never even crossed my mind!"

"I'm glad I could have helped!" she replied, giving a quick lick to Gahntuar's neck. "Just remember that you are not alone in this. And it is not just me who will help you, but those bipeds are also there to help you worry about those teaching times and places to stay and food and ... treasures!"

"I know," Gahntuar tried to grin, but Laethia could see the worry through his bravado. "It is just, these dragons are now coming to me, expecting me to lead them to a safer future. But I can't shake the feeling that I'm leading them into a death-trap!"

Laethia nipped at his shoulder, hard enough to make Gahntuar yelp in shock.

"Don't be foolish!" she reprimanded him. "It was dad who had the gift of foresight, not you! Anyway, from what I've heard the past few days, they are not following you blindly. You have defeated Segrien and his army of orcs after all!"

"It wasn't me," Gahntuar admitted, his crest wilting and his head hanging in shame. "Every time I faced him, he always managed to beat me comfortably. I should have been dead several times over. The last time it was the gryphons from the town where I stayed who saved me. And anyway, it was Lainah who was the one that actually killed him in the end."

"Great leaders aren't the ones who fight the best," Laethia reprimanded him with another nip that made Gahntuar yelp, though it did not sting as much as the first. "True leaders are the ones who know how to use the resources given to them the best. That is something you are already concerning yourself with. Add the fact that you worry about the dragons coming to you and I cannot help but think that you will be a good leader."

"Thank you," Gahntuar grinned, truly feeling better again. He gave her an affectionate lick across her snout, earning a delighted croon from Laethia. They looked at each other for a few seconds, just smiling again. But then, Gahntuar sighed again as he looked off towards the west. "Still, I cannot help but worry about their safety. Those already here, those who are still coming. Lainah going back alone to the Peninsula. I know she can handle herself, but still..."

At that, Laethia grumbled irritably beneath her breath, but she quickly shrugged it off before Gahntuar could notice.

"You care for her a lot I see!" she grumbled annoyed, but the natural growl to her voice seemed to have hidden her feelings on the matter.

"I do!" Gahntuar admitted, turning around to nuzzle her. "And I know the two of you will be good friends. You are very much alike, you know!"

"How did you meet?" she asked. It was meant to seem more courteous, but she was still surprised to find herself interested in the story.

"She was Jenour's mate when ... when ... Segrien ..."

"Oh," Laethia replied, her crest wilting in sadness. She was told that he had not escaped the red drake, but she had not realised that Lainah had been his mate at the time. The silvery draine had been very tight-mawed about the whole affair for some reason only known to her.

"Anyway," Gahntuar continued quickly, trying not to depress the two of them again. "She started to hunt Segrien, looking for vengeance instead of mourning Jenour's death and her smashed eggs. Then she happened to find me instead and I taught her what I remembered from dad's lessons. But though she had tried to keep her distance from me during that time, we have grown very close in the year or so I knew her."

"Have ... have you mated yet?" Laethia asked a little hesitantly, looking off towards the river as well.

"Yes!" Gahntuar grinned, completely oblivious to the mood of the draine next to him. He turned his attention back to Laethia to grin victoriously at her, one she didn't seem to share. "And she's promised me her next clutch as well!"

"Lucky drake!" Laethia replied with a fake smirk, giving him a covert glance. "When do you think that will happen?"

"Not for another three years, I'd say!" Gahntuar admitted, dreamily wondering for a moment what his future hatchlings would be like. But a sudden upset sigh from the draine shifted his attention completely onto her. "Something wrong?" he asked with a worried nuzzle to her snout.

"I would love to have hatchlings again!" Laethia whined, looking at the stream.

"Of course you will!" Gahntuar replied, surprised at the strange comment.

"You really think there would be a drake who would be willing to take me as a mate?" she growled, still not meeting his eyes.

"And why wouldn't they?" the drake asked, nuzzling her again to get her to look at him.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed that I am a cripple!" Laethia growled, flapping the bit of wing she still had. "There is nothing I can offer a drake! I cannot hunt properly, I won't be able to defend a territory properly, I cannot teach our hatchlings to fly at all, I ..."

"Don't talk nonsense, Laeth!" Gahntuar snapped with a nip at her shoulder that made her yelp this time. He was appalled that his elder sister, who he had always looked up to, would even think so little of herself now. "A dragon is more than their ability to fly. I remember you were always strong, confident and kind. Nothing had ever been able to get the better of you. I honestly think that any hatchling would be blessed to have you as a dame! Heck, if it was up to me, I'd be more than willing to raise a clutch with you!"

"You ... you would?" Laethia gasped as she stared at Gahntuar, her eyes suddenly bright with appreciation.

"Of course!" he smiled, licking the spot where he had nipped at her affectionately. "Even with only one wing, I know you would make a great mother."

"But ..." Laethia sighed, seeming to wilt again "you are currently mated to Lainah. Would you be willing to raise two clutches at once? I mean, that is if," she cleared her throat a little awkwardly "if you were to breed me."

"Honestly," Gahntuar replied as he glanced back to the stream again in thought, trying to ignore the awkward warmth in his chest as he considered the possibility of breeding her again. He was surprised to find that the thought excited him more than it should have, especially now that they didn't have to worry about any social taboo as no-one knew the true extent of their relationship. But surely, she was not honestly asking him to impregnate her again, was she? "If the circumstances were different, I think I wouldn't have hesitated. But with this Lúgroccae business, I'm worried about raising one clutch successfully as it is!" Then he turned his attention back to her, nipping lightly at her shoulder to direct her attention towards him when he noticed she was also looking longingly at the little stream.

"But don't worry about the future!" he comforted her with an affectionate nuzzle again. "I'm not going to be leaving you when Lainah comes into her heat again! In fact, for the foreseeable future, you're going to be stuck with me!"

"You better not leave me again!" Laethia growled possessively, pressing her shoulder firmly into his chest as if looking for comfort. "Now that you have come back to me, I'm not letting you go again!"

"I thought I lost you once before!" Gahntuar rumbled equally possessively. He placed a forepaw on her far shoulder to pull her into a little awkward hug, one he had seen the bipeds do often enough that he felt it was appropriate now. "I don't want to ever lose you again!" he continued as he started to lick her crest.

She purred happily and leaned into the strange embrace. For a moment, she passively allowed him to show her affection, but then she couldn't contain her desire anymore. She turned her snout around toward him again and nuzzled his neck. Those nuzzles quickly turned to affectionate licks along his jaw, which in turn quickly travelled up to his lips. Gahntuar chirped surprised when Laethia forced her tongue into his mouth, but with an excited rumble, he actively sucked her inside. They explored each other again like they hadn't done since leaving Ignehur's territory, uncaring of the world around them again. They remained like that for several minutes, and when they had to finally break their kiss, they still kept their faces close to each other.

The two black dragons heaved for breath as they pressed the bridges of their snouts firmly against one another, but whether it was because of the long kiss or the quickly rising passion, they were not sure themselves. Gahntuar was the first to move, but only to nip at Laethia's jaw before his mouth sought hers out once more. Their tongues wrestled for only a moment before Laethia pulled her head away again to look at his eyes.

"Mate with me!" she asked in what should have been a husky tone, but it came out as a desperate growl.

"Laeth?" Gahntuar questioned with a hard swallow, hoping and fearing he had heard right.

"Mate with me, please!" Laethia repeated a little more forcefully as she reached forward again to plant a lick along his chin. "I haven't had draconic company since leaving the Megdolas! Not since I thought I had been responsible ... since I had lost you!"

"What," Gahntuar hesitated, but as he swallowed, the scent of his arousal started to permeate the air around them. "What about Lainah ... and the trainees and ... and ..." He swallowed again to get his thoughts into order. "I don't want everyone to think I've abandoned her as soon as she left!"

"I don't want to come between you two," Laethia said a little too quickly, breaking eye contact for a moment to press her snout firmly against the soft scales beneath his jaw. "But she isn't here! No-one is! And of all the drakes I have ever known, I wouldn't have any other than you show me the pleasures of love again!" She pulled away again to stare longingly into his eyes. Then with a mischievous smirk, she played her best trump against him: "Do you want me to beg?"

Gahntuar opened his mouth to protest, but whatever it was he had intended to say died on his lips. 'Wasn't that the exact phrase that led to us conceiving Amaren?' he thought to himself with a smirk. But of course, it didn't really matter what she said as he knew he wouldn't have been able to deny her request. Not when they were still adolescent fledglings and not now.

"You know me too well!" he smirked. He gave her a final nip to the shoulder before he got up. Laethia whined with need as she caught sight of his erection and she leaned in to give the sensitive flesh a quick lick. She purred in delight as his taste flooded her maw again after so long and eagerly, she scooped her tongue beneath his shaft to pull him into her mouth again. But as her lips closed around his glans, he stepped back, pulling himself from her with an audible plop.

"No, I don't want you to beg!" he replied with a lustful growl, but still he glanced worriedly over his shoulder at where the building site was. "Still, what if we are caught ..."

"Everyone knows we've conceived Amaren together!" Laethia growled, seemingly upset at having her treat taken away from her. "No-one will bat an eye for a quickie between two old mates!" Putting word to action, she jumped to her feet and hastily moved to crouch before him in presentation for him to mount her. "Dragons do it often, right?" she smirked at him over her shoulder, crest raised high in anticipation.

"You are right, no-one knows we are clutch-mates!" Gahntuar agreed with a smirk, any lasting doubt evaporating from him. Eagerly, he reached his snout forward, lifting her slightly raised tail properly out of the way for a sniff directly at her pussy.

"You don't have to worry!" she grinned as she leaned slightly back into him. "My heat passed earlier this summer. You won't get me pregnant again!"

"But wasn't that what went wrong last time?" he replied, returning her playful smirk. "We didn't check your heat then and looked what happened!"

Laethia was about to mock scold him for saying Amaren was a mistake, but instead, she gasped with delight as his tongue touched her folds. Gahntuar did not linger either, quickly pushing inside and drawing out a loud moan from her as he started to eat her out. To his shock, he realised that she hadn't been kidding about being abstinent for over thirteen years. There was absolutely no taste of another drake in her and her walls were tight enough that she was practically a virgin again. And as such, he continued to lick at her flower, working to loosen her up again. He continued dutifully at this, stopping only when he was satisfied she was ready for him, even though he was flagging painfully hard by now.

"Please don't stop!" Laethia wailed when she realized Gahntuar had removed his tongue. "I was so clo-oh!" Her complained died instantly the moment when Gahntuar's weight settled on her back. Instead, her breath escaped her as a needy groan as she felt his forepaws grip firmly around her flanks.

"Don't doubt me!" he reprimanded her with a dominant bite at her neck. "I'll give you what you need!"

"My, you have grown up since last time, haven't you!" she managed to purr, not looking back at him as her head was held low in submission to her drake. Her tail writhed desperately around his flank, seeking and quickly claiming his own with a death grip as he started to nibble at her neck affectionately.

"I am not just your little brother anymore, am I?" he stated nonchalantly as he started to rock his hips forward, probing for only a moment until he found her opening.

"Please, don't hold back!" Laethia whined, actually quivering with need beneath him.

"What did I say about begging?" Gahntuar growled with another nip at her cheek as he sunk only the sharp tip of his glans into her flesh.

"Stop playing and give it to me already!" Laethia snarled frustrated, trying to twist her head around for a reprimanding nip of her own. But her lust was running hot in her and she only managed to snap her jaws at the air.

"That's the sis I remember!" Gahntuar growled excitedly. Not waiting any longer, he pushed forward with a powerful thrust of his hips.

Laethia squealed in delight as her brother speared into her depths, loud enough to have been heard all the way to the camp had there been anyone to hear. It had truly been too long since she had felt this deep caress of another dragon, but the fact that it was Gahntuar of all males on top of her made this reintroduction to the pleasures of life even more special. Her squeal faded to a grateful whimper as he pulled back a bit for another strong thrust, and when he gave it to her, she moaned with satisfaction.

Gahntuar himself started to growl and whine in delight at the tight feel of his sister's walls around his shaft. Though he had copulated several times only the night before, the fact that it was Laethia beneath him and that she wanted him specifically to be the first to mount her after such a long period of abstinence, made this act even more special.

He pulled her hips firmer into his groin as he started humping with powerful, fluent strokes. She could only respond by gripping harder at his tail that was securely intertwined with her own. Together they mated in passionate bliss, rubbing the frustrations and worry and distress from each other. For several minutes they continued at it, the only noises they were making being the lusty groans and moans of two passionate beings, locked together.

"Do you ... want it in you ... or on the ground?" Gahntuar suddenly huffed as he felt his orgasm approach dangerously close.

"Don't you ... dare ... waste your load ... on the ... ground!" Laethia snarled through her moans, too lost in her own bliss to look around and glare at him. Still, the threat of severe damage if he didn't comply, was evident in her voice.

But that didn't worry Gahntuar. Instead, he growled even more excitedly and bit firmly at her again, securely locking his teeth between the scales on the back of her neck just behind her head. He started thrusting with renewed vigour, causing the sounds of their lovemaking to rise significantly in volume. Laethia suddenly gasped when she felt Gahntuar's knot start to press up against her folds.

"Please ... in- ... inside!" she begged as the bulbous flesh started to strain against her opening. The drake did not disappoint and with another powerful thrust inward, he popped inside. The draine squealed sharply as they were locked together again, the sharp pang of the moment only serving to drive her passion to unbearable heights. Desperate for release after being denied it for so long, she clamped down on the glorious rod of throbbing flesh inside her.

Gahntuar whimpered in delight as Laethia's flesh quivered around him, both of them teetering on the brink of mind-blowing pleasure. Driven by instinct he tried to pull back again for that one final shove, seeking that last bit of stimulus to send him over the edge. But his knot had become stuck firmly inside her and he could not escape, even if it was only to push himself in again as deep as he could. Not that it would have made a difference though. The scales of his groin were already pressed firmly against her own as his haunches quivered around her tail base. Once again, after so very long, they were one.

Two souls, but only one being.

Her walls quivered one more time around him, providing that last nudge he craved. Gahntuar gave a delighted squeak and with all his might, he hugged his sister to himself as he came inside her. As the first jet of his hot, thick semen splashed against the walls of her egg chamber Laethia yowled in ecstasy, joining her brother in orgasmic bliss as he shuddered over her. Time seemed to stop and the world with all of its worries fell away for them as a second, then a third and finally a fourth powerful rope of cum joined the first within her and they wordlessly rode out the current of bliss together.

Slowly, the world came back to them. First the happy song of a lark that seemed to praise the beauty of the moment along with their calming hearts. Then followed the soft bubbling of the stream and a cool breeze that could do nothing to dampen the warm fuzzy feeling that seemed to coat their very scales. Slowly Laethia became aware of Gahntuar's tight grip as he still held her to him, the welcome weight of her brother upon her back, the racing of his heaving breath across her all too sensitive scales as he started to playfully nibble at her shoulder. How she had missed his smile, his loving eyes, the way his crest quivered when he was about to play a prank. She smiled to herself as she felt his penis continue to throb within her even through the thick layer of ooze that coated the walls of her vagina, and she knew he was still leaking his precious gift into her. Now that he had found her again, she knew that she would be lost without him by her side.

"Thank ..." Laethia purred, although she had to swallow once or twice to wet her mouth again. "Thank you! I didn't realize ... how badly I needed that!"

"You are ... most welcome!" Gahntuar agreed with an equally intensive purr, giving her rump a playful squeeze as he continued to straddle her. Make no mistake, he dearly loved Lainah and he was really looking forward to fertilizing her eggs when her heat returned. But there was something about being tied to his sister that words couldn't describe. How he had missed her scent, her eyes, her laugh and wit, the strength of her personality. He smiled to himself as she heaved for breath beneath his chest, enjoying how her walls still ripped with delighted spasms around him. Now that he had found her again, he doubted he would be able to go on without her by his side.

As if realizing how close to each other their thoughts were, Laethia reached around and nuzzled the top of his head affectionately in return. They stayed like that, only nuzzling and purring in delight along with each other. No words were spoken, for words were inadequate next to what they were already sharing. That is, until she had to interrupt the moment with a little nip at his semi-raised crest.

"Are you going to stay on top of me the whole time?" she asked incredulously when he looked up at her in question.

"You're a strong girl, aren't you?" he grinned in reply, resuming his loving attention at her shoulder.

"You are still impossible!" Laethia smiled, remembering that Gahntuar had never been fond of standing butt-to-butt after sex. Still, his strange quirk was not enough to even come close to spoiling the moment. In fact, it only reaffirmed their unusually strong bond with one another. With a huff of mock-annoyance, she lay down, pulling Gahntuar down with her so that he sat crouched protectively over her.

"But you still love me!" he grinned as he started to lick her crest affectionately.

"I do!" she agreed with a satisfied croon, looking around to smile at him.

"And I love you two!" Gahntuar said softly before she could utter another sound, reaching forward to nuzzle her jaw.

With a delighted purr, Laethia nosed his snout up and they shared yet another passionate kiss. They remained like that for a long while, again content to be lost in each other's company. Eventually, Gahntuar's knot shrunk enough for him to pop out again amidst a flush of sticky liquid. But though he was free again, he decided to remain crouched over her, even after his penis had completely shrunk back into his body.

"Will," Laethia eventually started to ask, though she had to swallow nervously before she could speak again. "Will you really be willing to give me a clutch?"

"Laeth?" Gahntuar replied surprised. This time, he could tell that there was nothing speculative about her question.

"I ... I want your clutch!" she admitted. "And not just another accidental pregnancy, but a properly planned and deliberate clutch!"

"Is that so?" he smirked, finally shifting a little off her. But he did not leave her, instead reaching his snout toward her tail so that, with a delighted purr to himself, he could start to clean the mess he had made. "I mean," he added between licks "I really enjoyed what we did just now, and though I know dad wouldn't have been happy about it, I know I will do so again if you ask. But are you sure you want us to mate properly?"

"Yes, I do!" she decided firmly. "And I know dad said it is not a good thing for clutch-mates to breed, but I don't care! I think Amaren and Tembarah turned into wonderful dragons and I would love to have a proper clutch with you! Unless," she added a little hesitantly "you don't want to breed your sister again..."

Gahntuar was silent for a moment as he appraised her now clean groin for a moment, contemplating his own feelings about officially taking his sister as mate.

"I mean, you admitted yourself that no-one knows ..." Laethia started to argue, a little desperately when he didn't reply. But he silenced her with an affectionate nuzzle.

"Don't worry!" he purred. "I still love you very much and I will never leave you again. But Lainah is my current mate and I cannot just abandon her either. So, if you are willing to wait for me, I will definitely breed you again and proclaim you as my beloved for all to hear."

His admittance that he was not going to abandon the silver draine before giving her a clutch stung a little at Laethia. But that was how he had always been and in her opinion, it was one of his most endearing personality traits. Could she have expected anything else from him?

"I will wait for you!" Laethia promised. "But you fertilize my eggs as soon as you dare, promise?"

"Promise!" Gahntuar purred delightedly, giving her another kiss. Laethia purred in delight at that, though she did not linger very long on their kiss.

"So, in the meantime," she smirked as she got up again and turned her raised tail towards him once more. "How about another go?"

"Laeth!" Gahntuar gasped astounded, though he failed to hide the excited purr from his voice.

***

It was a very irritated draine that glided silently on the wind as she passed over the low, grassy hills that rolled by in a seemingly unending march to the mountains on the horizon. The conflict within her was pulling her soul asunder. On one side, the instinct to return to her egg was driving her mad with worry. But on the other, that foolish vow she had made was burning bright in her chest, demanding that she continue to push forward. She regretted ever making that vow now, but what was done cannot be changed and with a heavy sigh she turned her thoughts away from her egg.

Ikessa desperately wanted to return to it, she needed to be there when it hatched! But luckily, she still had maybe a month yet to play with before she had to abandon this lost quest the master had sent her on. The vow flashed brighter for a moment until she corrected her thoughts by reminding herself that she will return to her quest once she knew her hatchling was healthy safe. Over the past two months, she had been looking for her prey, she had often returned to her mother's lair to quickly check in on her egg and take over a day or so of nest-duty. Not that she still mistrusted her mother anymore; as the older draine had promised, she was looking after the egg as if it was her own and the little thing was maybe even in better care than she could have given it. But she had to be there for the hatching itself ... she simply had to!

The vow flared again, but not as strong as before and the pale draine pushed the irritation to the back of her mind. She was doing the best she could, given the circumstances. She had only been told that her quarry was heading to the Arthulle Lowlands and may be searching out the Circle of Five. MAY BE? That was not much to go on, and yet she was expected to perform by both the insistent master and to a lesser extent, this stupid vow she had made.

The vow was her own fault and she had to live with it. But this master she had to serve? She growled irritably at the memory of him. In the two months she had been interacting with him, she had lost all respect for this creature she once had. He was like a tiny hatchling with too much power, a dangerous combination that she was sure the Shadowlands would be better off not having to suffer. But he was her better and she had to obey! And for the memory of her dead mate, she will. Though, she had come to pity Segrien, who had to deal with this creature his entire life.

So back to her quest again, but where to start? The only clue she had was that the last of the shamebloods was most likely trying to reach the Circle of Five. Why he would want to do that she could not fathom, but the master was adamant that they must not reach any of the Magi Towers, so she had decided to start there. And that was where her problems started: She had no clear idea where any of the Towers even were or how to find them. Everyone she knew specifically avoided going further onto the Kentreal Highlands than half a day's flight from the Curndor Mountains and she couldn't exactly drop down amongst the civil species to ask for directions either. So her best option was to seek out the Ivory Tower first. True, it was a bit off target if the shameblood was heading to the Arthulle Lowlands first, but it did make some sense that he would travel along the coast of the great ocean first before heading for said Tower.

For her purposes, the Ivory Tower was an ideal place to start though. It was after all the Tower closest to the Peninsula. But more importantly for her, it should have been easy to find since it sits on an island in the middle of nowhere. Still, she wasted at least two weeks or more flying around over the ocean before she came to realize that the small cluster of buildings she had found on the second day was in fact the Ivory Tower she sought. Sadly, the Ivory Tower turned out to be somewhat of a dud. But at least she now had an idea what these silly 'Towers' looked like now, so after she had gone to check up on her egg, she had turned her attention to the next obvious destination.

The Jet Tower was the second closest tower to the Peninsula and much more in reach of the shameblood supposed line of travel. It was also located on the edge of the Thirstlands so it should be easy to find as there would be very few other settlements nearby. Yet, even so, it still took her nearly a week to locate the irritating cluster of buildings nestled against a low rocky outcropping. Luckily for her, a mysterious informant of Senna who she had no idea even existed, had somehow caught wind of her mission and had sent out a messenger to talk to her. Berton, the young human apprentice had come out to inform her that the shameblood and his mate had arrived at the Amber Tower two weeks before already. The young human had seemed so scared and lost that her parental instinct had kicked in and for a moment she considered taking him with her back to her mother's lair. But she did not act on her instincts, instead, she thanked the human and left in a hurry to reach the third tower on her list.

At least she got directions to the new Tower this time around and was able to find the location described to her by the human within days. Indeed, she was so lost in thoughts concerning how to do her job that she snorted in surprise when she suddenly noticed the structures she had been looking for come into view in the far distance. She was still many miles off, flying too high for the people on the ground to notice her. But she still decided it would be best to remain on guard as she didn't want to be noticed by a sharp-eyed gryphon who lived in the area or the dragons she was hunting in either case. Which was a pity, all this time her attention had been on finding any trace of her quarry and she had barely any time to consider how to kill them!

The furthest she had been able to get was to admit that her best chance was to split the two dragons up somehow, then try and go after them individually. She could maybe issue a formal challenge the traditional way, then lure them deeper into the Curndor Mountains to do so. But what then? Try to surprise them? It still didn't answer her original problem, something she was not looking forward to in any case. The shameblood himself she wasn't that worried about, Segrien had always beaten him easily. It was the silvery draine who was her true target, but it was also only the previous season that she had managed to best Segrien on equal footing, overpowering and killing him as brutally as she did. How was she supposed to stand against that? Lure her into the air maybe? Though she knew the silvery draine was lethal on the ground, Ikessa was confident enough of her skill in the air to take her on.

She could have made use of Segrien's skill with magic of course, but something about it didn't sit well with her. In fact, she wondered if it wasn't actually his greatest weakness and where he had come to a fall, so she decided to stay away from that. Especially since it would also have meant that she had to get mixed up even further with the master, something she was very eager to avoid these days.

With an angry snarl, she realized she had become lost in thought again when she flew nearly directly over the Amber Tower itself. A little panicked, she scanned the area and sighed with relief when she realised that she was still not noticed. Deciding not to push her luck further, she dove sharply to a hill a little east of the Tower where an outcropping of broken boulders could hide her from wandering eyes.

Once safely hidden away, she spent a good few hours studying the cluster of buildings within the large wall of amber. And though a few people were coming and going, all seemed quiet here. And terribly boring to be honest, enough so that she dared to sneak a little closer. Unlike the Jet Tower, no-one was coming out to her this time and she was not learning anything new staying on top of the distant ridge anyway.

Then, as she was sneaking her way to the river, she finally caught his scent. Yes, the shameblood was indeed here and to her luck, it seems that he had not taken up residence inside the Tower itself. His scent was a few days old already, not the two weeks she had been informed which suggested that he did come to the Tower itself from time to time, but only stayed nearby. This could work nicely for her. All she had to do was to follow his scent back to where he had taken a new lair and ... and ...

She'll figure something out! But first, she needed to find him.

Following his trail was not that difficult and she quickly started to stalk up the flow of the river. As she moved forward, her mind was again trying to come up with a solution as to how she was going to kill him, his human and the silvery draine that was mated to him. Now that she knew where they were, she should explore the region and see where and how she can use the lay of the land to her advantage. It was important to remember that she was now the one who was outnumbered, so she had to be smart about this. It would be best to take her time with this, despite what the master said or did. At least that was one good thing about her vow: She was bound to it and not to his fickle whims.

She was so caught up again in her thoughts that she nearly walked straight into the little town that was taking shape just beyond the rise of a hill north of the Tower. With a snarl, she dove for cover, peeking around the shrubs she had hidden behind only when there was no challenge directed at her or call of alarm. But what she saw shook her views of the world completely!

It was not a town as she had initially thought, but only one half-built building. But what truly shocked her was the large number of dragons milling about amidst the civil species and actually helping them with the building work. Here one was pulling a cart like a feral horse, eagerly chatting with an elf about something or another. Or at least trying to. Even though she was too distant to make out any of the nuances, she could still see that the red draine had trouble with the vocalizations. There, two drakes were setting large stones, obviously harvested from higher up the valley on top of one another in preparation for setting the foundation for a second building. The yellow was laughing at the blue, while some equine therianthrope was trying to get them to work faster. The biped was not having any effect on the two until some black draine with one wing appeared to scold them for not taking their chores seriously.

For a moment, she thought she saw the shameblood, but it turned out to be another iridescent green drake who, together with a dark green draine, was holding up a finished frame that was to become the front of the original building ... or the back. She didn't know. As the two dragons held up the frame, another human and a lupine was busy fixing it into place. These four also seemed to know each other well enough as they were also trying to converse with each other, but with little success.

She studied the six dragons for a moment with interest. They seemed rather average to her, maybe a little young as well. Though, seeing that she was still supposed to be helping her mother raise a new clutch, it might not be wise to judge them by age. But overall there was nothing about them she could see that impressed her that much. That is, except for that cripple draine. She seemed to have been through some tough times but it had not defeated her. Instead, the others looked up to her as if she had some kind of authority.

Then she saw him.

The shameblood appeared amidst the group, pulling a cart laden with freshly cut trees himself. Ikessa also recognized his human next to him immediately. She snarled furiously as she saw them laughing about something. The black drake stopped for a moment to appraise the progress of the building himself, nodding to yet another, older human.

"Good work, everyone!" the shameblood called with a satisfied nod. "I think we can all do with a quick break."

"Thank you Lúg'hir!" the yellow drake called and all the dragons relaxed.

Ikessa was still trying to puzzle out that term when the equine walked over to him to start arguing, but the conversation did not last long before the biped deferred to him with a respectful nod.

Ikessa watched the interaction, her anger at seeing him again after the battle quickly freezing up into cold fear. This was bad, very bad. Not only had the shameblood somehow managed to attract more dragons around him, but he had also gotten them to choose him as the leader. And worse still, he had the respect and obedience of a group of bipeds. Thinking back to that last fight during the siege, that could truly become dangerous.

What she was seeing here had to be destroyed at all costs!

But for now, she was too late to do anything. In fact, she might even have been too late when the master first contacted her. Any plans she would be able to come up with on her own will be worthless now. She had to go. There was nothing for her to do more now.

Still, she allowed herself one last look around the gathered group of dragons and bipeds clustering together, hoping to catch a quick glimpse of her true target. But the silvery draine was still nowhere to be seen. Which was probably a good thing for now. She had confronted her within the borders of the town early in the siege, therefore she would know her scent immediately. And if she was caught, that would be the end of it. She would never leave this place ... never see her egg again ...

Her egg! The thought alone caused a deep longing to flash up in her, to return to her mother's lair again.

Nearly letting a whimper slip from her, she crouched low again and started to withdraw from the enemy camp as silently as she could. She had to revise her strategy, so she might as well take the time to resume her nesting duty from her mother. Maybe she can even stay long enough for the egg to hatch and the little one to imprint on her as nature had intended. The past month and a half she had barely seen her egg and nothing was going to get in the way of her being a good mother. Not even the vow!

Satisfied that she was out of sight of the camp not to be noticed anymore, she took flight. Immediately she turned to the south-west ... towards her egg.

For the first time since the siege, she allowed herself to smile again.

And for once, the vow had diminished to only a low throb within her chest.

***

Amaren snarled furiously, just managing to pull his face away from the yellow drake's slash least he received yet another bleeding cut to his snout. Erhon, however, did not let up and with a roar that sent the few riders that were still in the vicinity, scattering terrified of the clashing predators. Shella, the lupine who had been training with the young iridescent drake was the only one who dared to stay behind, but a gentle wing from Tembarah made sure that she did not get herself trampled by either drake.

Erhon, on the other hand, had no training rider assigned to him yet. The yellow drake had been the first new tetrapod recruit to arrive at the Amber Tower only a week prior, after being redirected this way by Lainah. He was of age to be fighting for his own territory as well, and as such he was a rather difficult character and the mentors had quite a handful with him. He only seemed to be wary of Roccan'her Eric and Lúg'her Lekreh, and of course of the Lúg'hir himself. But of course, that meant that he seemed to like looking for trouble with Amaren in particular.

He bit at Amaren again but this time the younger iridescent drake swiped at the yellow snout with a wing, the stubby claw scraping painfully across his rival's snout and causing him to stagger back in shock. It was a movement he had learned during his dragon-slaying classes and for that moment he was so surprised by the effectiveness of the move that he failed to follow up and end the fight. For his part, the failure of his attack made Erhon only angrier and he kicked out at Amaren again just as the other drake finally realised his mistake and tried to pin him to the ground.

The fight seemed already terrible to those not used to drakes fighting for territory, with both snarling dragons already bleeding from small cuts across their chests and sides. But those that knew how dragons usually challenged each other could see that the fight was slowly degrading into something very serious as the attacks started to focus on necks and faces. Jerielle finally tried to break the fight up, but only received a slash to her cheek for her trouble.

The fight was only brought to an immediate halt when a drake roared furiously at them.

"What is going on here?" Gahntuar shouted angrily as he rushed up to them.

"He started it!" Erhon yelped quickly, pointing an accusing wing at Amaren as the two naughty drakes finally backed away from one another.

"I did not!" Amaren snarled back at the yellow drake.

"You gave the first slash!" Erhon snapped undeterred.

"You refused to listen!" Amaren replied in kind.

"Enough!" Gahntuar snapped unimpressed, just as Merec finally reached his dragon's side. "I did not ask who started it!"

At his snarl, the two younger drakes flinched away but the fight in their stances still did not die away.

"This impudent drake tried to mate Tembarah," Amaren declared vehemently, snapping his teeth at Erhon. "Even when she declined him!"

"I did not force myself onto her!" Erhon snapped his teeth back at Amaren. "I never even mounted her! I was just trying to persuade ..."

"She said 'no'!" Amaren insisted.

"She said 'not now'!" Erhon corrected him.

"That is still 'no'!" Amaren growled with a renewed threat.

"That is ..."

"I SAID ENOUGH!" Gahntuar roared, making even Jerielle flinch away this time as well. "We are fighting the Umbrins, not each other! Save your strength for your training or I'll tell your mentors that they can push you harder!"

At that, the two drakes looked up at him in startled horror. Gahntuar turned his glare at the yellow drake first.

"If you want to remain here with us, you will behave yourself and respect each other!" Gahntuar growled threateningly at him. "If you do not, you will be chased off. Understood?"

"I didn't ..." Erhon started to argue, but when Gahntuar raised his crest in a challenge he backed off quickly. "Yes, sir!" he replied meekly, but still shot a furious glare at Amaren who smirked triumphantly at him.

"And you," Gahntuar rounded on his son, much to the shocked surprise of the younger drake. "If you have an issue with anyone or anything, you will come to speak to Merec or myself, or one of your mentors about it. You will not fight it out like upset hatchlings, understood?"

"Y-yes da- ah ... sir!" Amaren muttered a little dejectedly.

"That goes to all of you!" Gahntuar suddenly added a little louder, turning his attention at the gathered group of dragons who had come to see the Lúg'hir break up the fight. "Our unity is our greatest strength against the Umbrins and I will not have anyone threaten it, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" the group mumbled, feeling suddenly as guilty as the two fighting drakes.

"Good!" Gahntuar grumbled with a satisfied nod.

"Gahntuar," Merec suddenly spoke up. The black dragon leaned in to listen what his human had to say as he quietly spoke to the dragon.

"You're right, I guess!" Gahntuar agreed with a nod, turning his furious gaze back to the two young troublemakers. "For this unnecessary display of dominance, you will report an hour earlier to Roccan'her Eric at the building site tomorrow to help him prepare for the day's work. Understood?"

"But ..." both Amaren and Erhon gasped, their crests raised in shock. But the Lúg'hir would have no talking back at him.

"Understood?" he repeated a little harsher, raising his crest in a display of dominance.

"Yes, sir!" the two muttered, glaring at each other though their crests were pulled flat against their craniums in submission.

"You were both at fault here," Merec quickly added, though his voice did not carry the same sense of authority as his dragon's did. "Don't blame each other or you'll just get into more trouble!"

"Yes, sir!" the two repeated, keeping their gazes to the ground this time.

"Good," Gahntuar nodded in satisfaction. "Dismissed!"

As the two younger drakes turned to leave with their tails practically between their legs, Jerielle came slinking up to him.

"I'm sorry I couldn't break them up," she stated a little subdued. "I know how important working together is for you."

"It's okay," he replied with a slight smile. "I appreciate that you tried at least."

That cheered the red draine up significantly, and she returned to her rider with a happy croon as the rest of the crowd dispersed. Gahntuar watched them return to what it was that they were doing when he noticed Laethia walking up to him. His crest rose in sudden alarm when he noticed that she did not look pleased with what had transpired.

"Was it really necessary?" she grumbled as she approached Gahntuar.

"Yes," Merec insisted, watching the two troublemakers return to their respective duties. "They need to understand that there are consequences to actions. And I know that Amaren is your hatchling, but it is important that the others see that he does not get any preferential treatment."

"I meant breaking the fight up in the first place!" she growled as she glared at the human.

"If we are to work together, we need to learn to live together!" Gahntuar stated firmly. "Gullivarth was able to get all the dragons to do as he said and look at what he achieved during the Age of Legends. Likewise, Lunintur was able to defeat the larger Umbrin army at the Cynderskies because the Lumors worked together as a team. I doubt the Umbrins will leave us alone after what happened at Corrumwhell, so if we are to survive at all we must start working together as our forefathers had! As the civil species still do!"

"I'm not arguing about working together!" Laethia sighed, looking up at Gahntuar with a serious gaze. "But having a hierarchy will help settle disputes like this. Even the civil species have hierarchies like this, as I am sure you know. And what better way for dragons to discover that hierarchy than to fight it out? That is our culture, it is just how we are."

"That doesn't work for me," Gahntuar sighed with a shake of his head. "I am not saying that we must change our way of life, but here in the Lúgroccae we have to do things differently."

"I don't understand," Laethia admitted with a deep frown. "There is nothing wrong with a little bit of fighting here and there, I think."

"But if we establish a hierarchy based on regular duels, it will expose us to constant challenges amongst each other," Gahntuar explained. "Not to mention the regular shift of power one way or another that will follow. Under normal circumstances that may be fine, I guess. But with the dangerous situation we are in, such a fluid existence could be lethal for us."

"Or it is dangerous to your position at the top?" she replied with a playful nip at his shoulder. But when he flinched and looked away with his crest lowered in distress, she realised that her words had stung a bit. Though all the dragons there were looking up to him, being a runt Gahntuar was slightly smaller than most of the dragons there. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to suggest ..."

"I know you were just trying to tease a little," Gahntuar sighed. "It's just ... wasn't it you who told me that leaders aren't always the ones who fight the best?"

"I ... did say that," Laethia admitted a little subdued.

"I think I understand what you are trying to tell me about the importance of a hierarchy," he replied, smiling a little weakly. "But I will not develop that hierarchy of yours based on who punches the hardest, but who can think the best."

"I guess you are right," she conceded. "But I think it is still a good idea to put something in place for the dragons to ... blow off a little steam, as the Seleborians would say."

"They have their training," Merec smirked, trying to lift the mood.

"And when that is done?" Laethia growled at him, narrowing her eyes a little.

"I'll try to think of something," Gahntuar quickly interjected. "But I'm still certain that there has to be a better way to go about it than to just let them fight it out."

"If you say so," Laethia conceded with a sigh, nuzzling up against his jaws for a little affection. He purred and nuzzled her back for a bit before he pulled away again.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go!" he announced, giving his human a knowing glare. "We promised to meet Adulf a bit higher up in the valley. Apparently, there is something he wants to test out for which we are needed." The human nervously cleared his throat and glanced away for a moment, but did not argue the statement. But it seemed as if he was a little apprehensive of whatever this test was.

"What is it about?" Laethia asked interested.

"Something that might be quite useful if it works," Gahntuar smirked mysteriously as he started to nose Merec away. "On the other hand, it might also prove to be rather dangerous."

And without another word, they left the confused draine behind.

***

The late afternoon sun barely filtered in through a remote cluster of Yellowwoods that grew a bit gnarled from between the large, blocky boulders that had long ago crumbled from the sandstone cliffs that towered over the dense canopy. A few of the boulders had fallen together in such a way that they created an opening beneath them, large enough to house four dragons and their riders comfortably, though the slight draft that blew through it made it less than ideal as a place to overnight. Still, it served its purpose more than adequately for now, providing excellent cover and privacy for the black dragon and his rider.

Gahntuar nuzzled eagerly at Merec's bare chest, crooning with delight as the human returned the affection with a caress to the sensitive patch of scales beneath his jaw. Though they had more than adequate time available to them to enjoy the moment, Gahntuar chose not to waste any more of it and quickly started to explore lower down the human's body, sniffing and licking at the exposed stomach. When the dragon lowered his snout even further, Merec opened his legs wider to allow the scaled snout better access. Both their breathing was by now heavy with anticipation, and with a delighted rumble, Gahntuar sniffed at the erection presented to him.

Seemingly satisfied with the offering, the dragon gave the firm flesh a couple of quick licks before wrapping his tongue around the bulbous head and with another eager rumble, pulled it into the dangerous maw. Merec gasped as the mouth closed tight around his member, the soft tongue dutifully keeping the precious organ away from the sharp fangs. The pressure within the maw dropped, and Merec gasped again as his glans was pressed up firmly between the soft tongue and the hard palate. As the human started to caress the large head in his lap, from the sharp snout against this groin up to the back of the head right between the horns, the dragon returned the affection by wrapping his wings around his human as if to hide him from any nearby unwanted attention.

Gahntuar chose to just suckle for a bit before he finally increased the strength of his oral service by starting to bob his head slightly. Not much movement was needed to stimulate the smaller creature to the point of no return.

"I'm ... close ..." Merec whimpered a warning.

Emboldened, Gahntuar pushed his head against Merec to get the human to lie on his back. The dragon loomed over his human, bobbing his head now more vigorously and even going so far as to give his head a slight twist with each movement. Against this onslaught Merec had no chance to last very long and with a loud gasp, he came. Gahntuar swallowed his treat eagerly as he purred in delight. Only after the human was spent did the dragon pull from his lap, the fading erection coming free from the scaly lips with a wet plop.

"You need more meat in your diet, I think!" Gahntuar grinned down at the human as he smacked his lips with exaggerated delight.

"Really?" Merec stared up at the dragon exasperated. "That is the first thing you think of?"

"But you still love me!" Gahntuar purred, leaning down to lick Merec on the cheek.

"You can tell what he eats by how his semen taste?" Adulf suddenly asked from the side where he was sitting to observe.

"Diet does affect the taste, yes," Gahntuar commented unphased, still looming protectively over his human. Merec propped himself up onto on an elbow and leaned over the wingpalm to glare at the green magus.

"I thought you were going to be 'unnoticeable'?" he grumbled annoyed.

"Well, you're done right?" Adulf remarked nonchalantly, not looking up from the little booklet where he had started to take notes.

"Remind me why you had to watch everything?" the human continued to grumble, sitting up and reaching for his clothes. Dutifully, Gahntuar still shielded his human from view with a slightly extended wing.

"I need to observe the whole experiment to understand it properly," Adulf commented, ignoring the human's shyness for now. He remembered his awkwardness concerning nudity when he was still a young apprentice at the Nacre Tower. "You know, for now, I'm interested in how long it takes to take effect. How long the effects last will be more problematic to record as I cannot follow you around doing experiments and still hope to remain unnoticed."

He quickly confirmed again that the hourglass he had set up next to him was still running smoothly. He had set the sand running immediately when he was sure Gahntuar had swallowed his dose. It was a good quality device and he would be on the lookout for one of his own when he returned to the Nacre Tower again. Instead of a small, one-minute device, this one contained about ten minutes worth of sand with etchings in the glass to indicate how many minutes had already passed.

"Later on, we'll be having a look at how various dosage amounts will affect the effective time and the strength of the ability," Adulf commented still nonchalantly.

"You plan on watching again?" Merec called appalled from behind the wing.

"More than just watch" the lupine admitted, this time unable to force away a smirk at the expense of the human. "I'll need to catch up the reagent and measure off dosages. Oh, don't worry about it! I want to cast a few spells myself to measure a few things and see if I can improve on others. So I'll be naked with you."

"What?" the human yelped in shock, making the wolf laugh.

"Don't worry so much!" he chuckled. "It is a green magus thing. Many of our spells are affected by the organic materials of our clothes, so it is best to be naked when casting it. I remember most of my lessons had been taught completely in the nude, so if you want to learn the more fun stuff you had mentioned to me you'll have to follow procedure."

"If you say so!" Merec grumbled upset, adjusting his trousers as he finally appeared from beneath the dragon.

"I'm afraid there is no other way," Adulf affirmed, still smirking as the human sat down opposite him to watch the hourglass run out.

"What did you mean with 'How long it takes to take effect'?" Gahntuar questioned to change the topic, also laying down more comfortably. "Didn't you say food-based reagents always takes around forty minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream?"

"I said 'usually'," the druid reminded the dragon. "It is not properly documented how semen is digested, you know. For instance, we just saw that Merec started to show effects after only twenty-five minutes."

"That was one thing that bothered me," Merec mentioned. "Healing potions take effect immediately ..."

"That is because there are Manashapes infused into the potion to force it to be absorbed immediately, and not just the usual performance-enhancing shapes!" Adulf explained. "The proper stuff is not just raw reagents you know."

"But won't the biological ingredients interfere with the potions?" Merec asked, momentarily distracted from his awkwardness.

"It does," Adulf admitted. "That is why potions become less effective or even completely dun if they are kept around for too long. Even in your case, the strength of the effects will fade slightly to some kind of baseline if the semen is not used for a few months. Though I'd not advise stocking it up for later use."

The druid suddenly turned his attention to Gahntuar.

"Speaking of which, can you check if you can influence Mana?" he asked. "Just like we explained to you earlier."

Obediently, Gahntuar raised one forepaw and tried to clump the Mana around them into a ball by focusing on the watery sensation and squeezing his claws together. As his fingers closed into a fist, he suddenly rumbled in interest.

"It ... dimples," he announced a little eagerly, but then sighed disappointedly as he relaxed his paw again. "It reacts more than when I was young, I admit! But nothing even approaching what I'd call obeying my commands!"

"Interesting," Adulf muttered as he started to scribble something in his notebook. "Merec had also mentioned being able to sense the Mana here even before he took his evoceather."

"You think that may be important?" Merec asked, suddenly annoyed again at the wolf having to observe their intimate time together. "Felicity mentioned that the Mana Spectrum is not an absolute measure. Some individuals are more adept at certain aspects of Mana than their species average should be. Maybe I've always been slightly more inclined towards magic?"

"Maybe," Adulf admitted, going over his notes again quickly before regarding the human. "But I do find it too strange that both you and Gahntuar are showing this anomaly."

"What about a side effect of regular ... um ... dosages?" Merec suggested.

"Not impossible, but I doubt it!" Adulf insisted. "Potions never have a permanent effect, not even a lingering one like this."

"Maybe it is because we are mates?" Gahntuar guessed as well, his crest raised in interest at the implications.

"That is a more likely possibility," the wolf agreed thoughtfully "but I'm still not entirely convinced. To be sure, the fact that you are emotionally attached to each other may play some role. But we don't really know how Mana interacts with the soul itself and any experimentation with it is strictly forbidden by the Circle of Five. Even just mentioning interest in researching it will have severe consequences."

That seemed to have killed the conversation and the three sat there in silence, just watching the sand dribble through the hourglass.

"How did you find this Manawell?" Merec suddenly asked to break the silence. He glanced around the little cave formed by the loose scattering of room-sized boulders with interest. "I thought they were extremely difficult to find!"

"They are usually difficult to find," Adult agreed, also looking up at their surroundings. "If you have the time, I guess you can try to locate the Aetheritera ... um ... Laylines that connects each of the wells and follow those, but since they don't emit Mana on their own they are difficult to identify. But Manawells tend to be more clustered around the seven Aetherfountains so it shouldn't be too difficult to find one. To be sure, I won't be surprised if many of the yellow magi in the Tower already knows about this place.

"But truthfully, it was Amaren who helped me to find it," the wolf added as an afterthought as he consulted the hourglass again.

"You didn't tell him what you needed the well for, did you?" Gahntuar suddenly quipped up, worriedly.

"Heck no!" the druid quickly admitted. "I'm not going to explain to your son I want to examine the effects of Mana between the two of you after you had oral sex!"

The quick reaction by the wolf had the dragon burst out in laughter. The wolf glared up at the sudden reaction, but at least it had the human feel a little better.

"I can imagine that might be awkward for you!" the dragon grinned. "But sex is just another part of life for us dragons. In truth, we teach our fledgelings about mating with a very ... hands-on approach. No, I was just wondering because if he knows what Merec and I are doing, he'll probably try to follow my example with his own rider. And while we have already decided not to try and stop relationships between lúg and roccan, I don't think it will be a good idea to encourage it either!"

"You mate your offspring?" Adulf asked stunned, staring up at the dragon as if seeing him for the first time.

"Ah, no!" Gahntuar quickly meeped, his ears suddenly red with embarrassment. After awkwardly clearing his throat, he continued to explain to the frowning wolf. "I mean we ... we just demonstrate for them how it is done when they become mature enough."

"Is that a good idea?" Adulf asked, sensing there was something more but not sure what. "I mean, won't that encourage them to start experimenting before they are ready?"

"It is how it has been done since the first dragons passed through the veil," Gahntuar dismissed the comment with a flick of his snout. "But to be honest, you may have a point. Only days after watching my parents' demonstration, I did go out to find Laethia ... aaand got her pregnant as a result. We were much too young to take care of eggs and our parents were not impressed, but looking back at it I wouldn't have it any other way!"

Adulf watched the last of the sand run out before quickly turning the hourglass again to restart the next ten minutes. Jumping on the slight distraction, Gahntuar turned to Merec to change the topic.

"So," the dragon asked with an interested purr to his voice. "How is your training at the Tower going?"

"Boring, to be honest," Merec admitted, smiling at the dragon's redirect and helping his friend escape any awkward questions. He knew exactly what had the drake so worried by the druid's statement and he was eager to assist. "Okay, the history and the science lessons are very interesting, but as for the real magic lessons, it is going excruciatingly slow, I'm afraid. Except for Aerhin, the others are still busy getting to grips with making the candleflame shape!" A little eager to show off, Merec quickly demonstrated the shape with a flick of a finger, secretly proud to be able to call it up with barely a thought now. "And when we do get it right, we are asked to hold it for as long as possible." He let the little flame on his finger die before looking up at the dragon again. "And that is it, I'm afraid!"

"The others still need to practice the actual molding of Mana, you know!" Adulf reminded him with a stern gaze.

"I know," Merec quickly conceded. "But I was kind of hoping to have learned a little more by now. Not just holding the flame for a few minutes and that is it for the day!"

"Holding that flame for as long as you can is actually meant to train your mental stamina," Adulf explained patiently. "The candleflame shape itself is too weak to cause a dangerous Manaburn, so there is no risk to you when keeping it up until you cannot maintain the shape anymore. Once you are strong enough to hold it for an hour, you are considered ready enough for the more interesting shapes. It goes for all the Towers and has been how training was done since the days of the Ivory Dagger."

"The Ivory Dagger?" Gahntuar asked surprised. "I thought it was the Ivory Tower!"

"That was way back, even before the First Witch War, when magic was only being discovered!" Merec quickly explained, still eager to show how much he had already learned. "The first magi societies gathered in the basements of pubs and inns to train and share what they have discovered about Mana. One such pub was called the Ivory Dagger. The society from that pub moved out to their own place when they discovered the first Aetherfountain on an island in Lorumere Lake. They called the shack they set themselves up in the Ivory Tower, naming it after the pub that hosted them before and not because ivory is such a great and balanced material to enchant with."

"Right!" Gahntuar rumbled, the quick history lesson a little over his head. So with a thoughtful rumble, he asked instead: "How do you think the other trainees are doing? With their magical studies, I mean?"

"It is too early to tell at the moment," Merec replied. "Aerhin is very talented, but then again, he is an elf after all and there is not much he can learn here at the Tower," Merec smirked at a sudden thought. "He spends most of his time looking after the Lúgroccae trainees and helping them with their exercises, much to the irritation of Master Jonnon ... the stallion who is in charge of our training at the Tower."

"Can you please try molding again?" Adulf suddenly interrupted the conversation. As requested, Gahntuar flexed his claws again but there was still no improvement.

"Have you finally managed to contact Felicity?" Merec suddenly asked Adulf as the thought occurred to him.

"Yes, I finally did this morning!" the green magus reported with a sigh, though he couldn't quite hide a smirk at the thought of his conversation with the vixen. "She is at Perston now, and rather pissed that we came here without her. She just came from Corrumwhell and everything is going well there. Of course, the scouts of the Alliance have swarmed the place, but the town is helping Lainah to keep away from their notice. And both Lainah and Claude send their regards!"

"You could have told us earlier!" the dragon grumbled annoyed, though he breathed a heavy sigh of relief at the news, making the wolf smile up at him.

"I could have," Adulf admitted, pulling his ears back a little. "But I wanted to mention it when Eric and Harald were also present. It seems that Lesley has already left the town when she arrived there and at least four more dragons are heading our way. And seven additional riders as well."

"That is a lot!" Merec gasped shocked.

"It is," Adulf smirked almost as if he had been responsible for the success of their expansion. "And I have more good news for Gahntuar! Your mate seems to have found an apprentice who is more willing to take over your old territory north of town than travel over the ocean again. It is a young drake who doesn't have the courage to do any actual fighting, but he is more than grateful to be able to help us by acting as a sentinel for us on the Peninsula. She is just showing him the ropes of surviving in the Catarrum Mountains and teaching him enough of the human language to get him settled. She should be heading back here in four months or so!"

"That is great!" Gahntuar chirped excitedly, eager to see his mate again. But then he wilted a little bit again, "I just wish there was a way to just send thoughts to someone though. I really would like to speak with her right now."

"In the Golden Age, the archmagi of the various towers were able to send out images of themselves to anyone they chose so that they could communicate directly with them!" Adulf admitted.

"Let me guess," Gahntuar growled annoyed, but still flexed his claws as he tried to mold Mana again. "The shape had been lost with almost everything else during the Shattering!"

"Pretty much," the green magus admitted a little shyly. "Some researchers at the Ivory Tower is experimenting with the communication mirrors to try and rediscover it, but even after so many centuries much of our knowledge of Manashapes is still very fragmented."

There was another, heavy silence as they watched the sand drain from the top of the hourglass a second time before Adulf flipped it around again to start measuring the third set of ten minutes.

"So," Merec suddenly started asking to fill the silence. "How is your si- er that new friend of yours? Laethia, right? I haven't been able to see much of her as I would have liked, with this rigorous training and getting the camp ready."

"Yeah, she was your first mate, right?" Adulf also asked interested, seemingly not having noticed the human's near slip-up.

"She's been through some really tough times," Gahntuar admitted a little subdued. "But she is doing much better since we arrived."

"Felicity mentioned finding her some thirteen years ago," Adulf commented, thinking back on when the vixen had told him about her the first time. "It was the first time we have even heard of a possible civil war amongst the dragons. I understand that she and her mate at the time had been attacked by an Umbrin dragon. Her mate was killed outright and she was left for dead with her throat ripped to shreds. Luckily for her, an ursine druid found her just in time and managed to save her life. After that, the two of them had been travelling together until Felicity found them and convinced the draine to come to the Amber Tower with her. And she has been staying here ever since then." He turned to the dragon. "I mean no offence, but what was it exactly that you saw in her. Everyone that I know that knew her talks about her as being crude and selfish..."

Gahntuar released a warning growl from deep within his throat, making the wolf flinch slightly.

"I'm sorry, but that is how everyone around here sees her!" he insisted. "She has always kept to herself, only coming to the Tower on the rare occasion to visit the library and let no-one near her, unless she has direct need of them. I would just like to know what she was originally like when you knew her."

Gahntuar forced himself to relax a bit as he considered the wolf's words. She had been very rude towards them as well before she had known who he was. So there was no reason for him to be insulted by how she had treated others.

"It was Segrien who had attacked her," he finally stated. "After he had killed her mate, he tortured her to find out where I had escaped to after I had destroyed his eye. Though she tried to keep me safe, she accidentally let slip that I was with the elves. So all this time, she had believed that she was responsible for my death and had not dared make friends again."

"I ..." Adulf started to apologize, but suddenly words seemed completely inadequate. "I am sorry!"

"I guess I cannot blame you! She never gave any reason for her actions, did she?" Gahntuar sighed, glancing down the valley to where Laethia's cave was. But then his mood seemed to lift again and he trilled happily. "At least she is doing much better now! She is looking forward to living life again and not just to read up on whatever she fancies at the time."

"She can read?" Merec asked surprised.

"Yeah!" Gahntuar chirped excitedly. "She is the world's first draconic scholar and has written a few notes on draconic society herself. You can go have a look at her work in the library at the Tower. I was as surprised as you when I heard and asked her if she could teach me sometime. Maybe it might come in handy, don't you think?"

"It might," Adulf interrupted the conversation. "Though, for now, can you please try molding Mana again?"

Gahntuar grumbled, swallowing his comments on dragons reading and writing for the time being to oblige the green magus. "Still noth- ..." he started to grumble when he suddenly snorted in surprise. Both Adulf and Merec quickly looked up to notice the clump of Mana that had taken shape on the dragon's palm. Gahntuar smirked delightedly, his crest that had been erect in shock relaxing again as he allowed the potato-like shape to dissolve. Then with another flex of his claws, he squashed the Mana together again.

"So it does work!" Adulf stated, sounding a little shocked as if he had not expected it to work. He consulted the hourglass again just to confirm the measurement he had taken. "And again after about twenty-five minutes!" Quickly, he started to scribble down some more notes as Gahntuar continued to clump Mana together a third time.

"So this means I can cast spells now?" the dragon chirped, the excitement in his voice causing him to purr deeply.

"Looks like it!" Merec agreed with a smirk. Without hesitation, Gahntuar tried to mold the candleflame shape he had seen Merec often do. However, it took a while to form and when he eventually released the spell, the Mana ignited as a pale blue flame. Though not what he had wanted, he still chirped like a hatchling that he got something on his very first try. But his excitement quickly evaporated when he realised his claw was heating up and with a disappointed growl, he let it go before it could burn him.

"Your shape should have perfectly smooth sides which are all exactly the same shape!" Merec quickly advised, remembering the lioness's teachings which had helped him get it right that first time.

"Right!" Gahntuar agreed and quickly started to try the shape anew again.

"Though I suggest we don't make very obvious use of your new ability!" Merec quickly warned him, just as his next shape fizzed out. "Especially concerning the confusion Segrien's charm caused in the Circle of Five."

"I didn't think of using flashy magic!" Gahntuar quickly squeaked, though his flat crest betrayed that he was lying about it. "But a few tricks like that air-shield he had will be useful!"

"It will," Merec smirked at the excitement of the dragon. "I think you are right though, we should at least have a look at a few small tricks and enhancements."

"Although, best be quiet about it!" Adulf quickly warned them. "Legally, I should report the fact that you can mold Mana, but I think this knowledge may be best to remain between us. At least for the time being."

"Why?" Gahntuar asked, frowning as he lost concentration and the shape bled back into his palm unignited. "Surely the other dragons can make use of this!"

"Yes," Adulf hesitated, trying to phrase what worried him correctly. "Imagine an Umbrin dragon setting himself up near a large human city, demanding to be fed one regularly or else he will leave it in ruin. The regular ... sacrifices, if you will, will then give him the same ability you have now. And then we will have another Segrien on our hands for as long as his supply continues."

Gahntuar growled at the thought. that would definitely not be a good thing, for anyone. But still, could they keep something this important to themselves?

"But what if one of the other dragon-rider pairs start to ... explore their relationship?" the dragon insisted. "What if they discovered what we just did. We cannot really hope to hide it completely, and it will be hypocritical of us to forbid them to explore each other sexually while we are doing it regularly."

"You are right!" Merec agreed. "The only things we can do is to stop this here ourselves ..." Gahntuar growled upset at that, indicating what he thought of the suggestion. Merec caressed his snout affectionately to soothe the upset drake as he continued: "... or we keep it a secret, only revealing it to those who discover it for themselves. Then they can become part of the keepers of the secret."

"That is not such a strange thought," Adulf agreed. "Each Tower has its own secret lore and spells. There should be no reason why it has to be denied to the Lúgroccae as well."

"That sounds good to me!" Gahntuar agreed though he was frowning with concentration to get his next shape right again. Only this time, the Mana at the tip of his claw ignited as a spark that popped with a rather loud snap.

"How long will his new ability with Mana last?" Merec asked curiously, smiling at the frustrated dragon.

"Difficult to tell," Adulf replied with a sigh. "It should be a day or two at least. Too long for us to measure it directly, so I suggest that you check it every hour or so. Just tell me when it starts to fade and when it is completely gone, please?"

"We can do that!" Merec agreed.

***

Erktull stared surprised at the creature standing before him. The draine was still very young, much too young to be travelling abroad, let alone come here to the dangerous stretch of the Northern Curndor Mountains. Yes, by all rights she should still have been with her dame, learning about how to be a good breeder and to take care of the numerous eggs she is to carry.

Instead, she had the audacity to just fly into this valley and start making demands. Demands?

"Run by me again, you want WHAT?" the deep amber drake asked again, a little incredulously. It was simply impossible he had heard her right the first time! Had to be! Maybe his attention slipped a bit towards the two nearby drakes bickering over something or another. Probably the scattered remains of the morning's kill or the like. It was nothing serious enough for him to break up, but it was annoying when he tried to concentrate on what the draine was trying to say.

"I need to speak to your leader," the draine repeated, speaking a little slower this time. The hard-headedness of the drake irritated her to no end, but still, this whole valley felt wrong to her and she looked about her nervously. But the vow in her chest flashed brightly whenever she considered turning tail, so she gritted her teeth and pressed forward. "Terrum, I understand he is called."

He shot another leering glance at her flanks. She was built strong and healthy, her scales shimmered brightly in the sun, suggesting that she was indeed a healthy female ripe for the picking and he idly wondered when her heat was set to come over her. For a moment, he had considered taking his right as drake even before she had opened her maw to address him, but her pale-blue colouration left much to be desired in his opinion. As rightwing to the leader of this group of fighting drakes, he usually had his pick of any females they came across. He didn't need to waste his time on ... this one.

Still, she seemed to have quite the spirit to her. She would have made a fine dame for his hatchlings, to join the growing number he was sure he had already sired somewhere. That was if she had been more of a looker. Maybe he should give them to the lads? Might do them some good to fight it out for some virgin tail instead of having to be satisfied with his or Terrum's sloppy seconds. But for some reason, he was feeling generous today.

"You are lost, little draine!" Erktull replied with a snap of his jaws. "Go home before you get yourself hurt!"

"My mother assured me that I will be able to find him here ..." Ikessa insisted stubbornly.

"Your mother?" Erktull laughed at her. He was so close to her face that foul-smelling spittle splatted against the scales of her snout. "Your mother should have known better than to have sent you here!"

"My mother didn't ..." Ikessa started to argue, but the dominating drake interrupted her again.

"Take my advice, little draine!" the brute snarled. "Go back where you come from before we fill you with eggs!" To emphasise his threat, he nipped at her flank, making her squeak in surprise. He may not have been very willing to dilute his blood with that of this draine, but she was trying his patience and making him reconsider very quickly. Any hole was a goal, after all!

"I already have ..." the suddenly worried draine tried to speak up, but still he did not give her the time to speak.

"There is only a bunch of horny drakes here who hasn't managed to settle their own territory yet," he stated. "They will be more than eager to satisfy themselves with you." To emphasize that he was not merely threatening her with idle talk, he turned himself to one side a little to display the engorging shaft beneath his belly.

"But I must ..." Ikessa began in a little too high-pitched voice, trembling slightly as the ugly drake stepped up beside her. However, he silenced her yet again with another nip at her flank, catching her scales this time between his teeth and making her yelp.

"Don't say I didn't warn you ...!" he snarled, the sudden lust in his voice making her stomach turn. In a flash, he had jumped up onto her back. However, with a quick twist of her body, she slipped from his grip before he could secure his forepaws around her hips. That should have warned him that this was no ordinary draine, but he was completely driven by his unquenchable desires and did not stop to think for even a moment.

With a furious roar, he struck hard at her, slamming his claws firmly into her hip to hold her in place. Ikessa squealed in pain as his claws found purchase beneath her scales. She tried to twist away from him again, only this time he managed to hold onto her as he pulled her in beneath his chest.

"Erktull!" A sudden deep voice rumbled, making the amber drake on top of her squeak in surprise and he dismounted from the younger draine with a very inelegant stumble. "What are you doing?"

"Teaching this draine her place, my lord!" Erktull squeaked, quickly bowing in respect to the much older, deep blue drake that had approached them.

Ikessa jumped on the opportunity presented to her and quickly scrambled to stand before the new drake with her head lowered in respect.

"I need to speak with you, lord Terrum!" she started to speak quickly, but a sudden stinging swat from Erktull across her rump made her squeal again!

"Enough with you!" he snarled at her.

"Enough, Erktull!" Terrum snapped, his one forepaw raised in threat to discipline the amber drake. Erktull meeped and quickly lowered himself in respect again. Satisfied that his second in charge will not be thinking on his behalf anymore, he turned to regard the uninteresting, pale-blue draine with a rather disinterested stare. "And what is it that you want to speak to me about, little draine?" he rumbled, but with a tone that suggested that he had little patience for anyone and was not interested in dealing with the commotion she had already caused within his group. Even now, some of the drakes within hearing distance had started to gather around them to watch the confrontation, some snickering to each other as they spoke softly, their slowly emerging erections suggestive of the topic of conversation.

"I ... I need your help, my lord!" Ikessa quickly stated, deciding to come directly to the point of her visit.

"We don't have time to help you find your sire's lost hoard or your dame's favourite missing kobold!" Terrum growled, his voice practically dripping with malice. "We have a much more important job to do!"

"I'm not ..." Ikessa started to explain, but the blue drake interrupted her with a sharp, reprimanding bark.

"We are hunting down the last remaining rebels and making an end to their existence!" he announced loudly, earning cheers from those already gathered and drawing the attention of those who had been too preoccupied to give much thought to the new arrival, female though she was. Even the two who had been engrossed with their fighting only moments before had stopped to stare at her. "Even as we speak there are rumours that Lunintur himself had come back from the dead to lead them again. Foolish though it may be, we cannot allow the Lumors to gather around this pretender!"

"That is what I ..." Ikessa started to say, but she was completely drowned out by the blue drake who had not stopped his ranting about their importance.

"We are the teeth of the Master, the flames of his fury!" Terrum continued proudly. "It is our divine duty to destroy the Lumors, as handed to us by the Claw of the Master himself ..."

"I AM THE CLAW OF THE MASTER!" Ikessa shrieked, furious at not being allowed to speak. At that, there was a moment of stunned silence, before all the assembled drakes burst out in mocking laughter.

"Say what?" one brownish drake managed to wheeze through his laughter while another, reddish one mocked her with "Can you repeat that?" Terrum had to bark several times for silence before he had the opportunity to speak again.

"You insulant draine!" he rounded on her with a furious hiss. "Do you really expect me to believe you speak for the Master?"

"I do and you will listen to ..." Ikessa insisted firmly, hoping that being assertive will make these thick-horned, testosterone-fuelled imbeciles listen to her. Only, she received a heavy swipe that drew blood from her snout for her trouble as Terrum silenced her with an angry snarl.

"I met the Claw of the Master," Terrum announced loudly for all to hear his boast "and HE is not a little weak draine like you!"

"Segr-" Ikessa started, earning another painful swipe across the snout.

"You will not speak of him with that disrespectful maw of yours!" Terrum snarled.

"I ..." She barely opened her maw before Terrum slashed open her face a third time.

"In fact, you will not speak at all!" he declared.

Ikessa flinched away when she saw another blow coming, but it appeared that was the desired reaction the brute in front of her had wanted to see and the strike did not land. Instead, he turned to his second in command.

"You were right," he spoke loudly enough for all the drakes there to hear, the condescension heavy in his voice. "She needs to be taught her place!"

"With pleasure!" Erktull purred, before looking around at the assembled drakes around them. "Lads!"

The drakes around her grinned evilly at that and twelve of the more dominant ones started to stalk towards her, the spicy tang of their fully engorged arousals growing heavy in the air. Ikessa squealed in terror and started to back away from them, but having anticipated this, Erktull grab at her again. Acting with instincts honed over the past year with Segrien, Ikessa twisted once more out of his grasp and blocked another attack aimed at her head with an upraised wing. She struck back at her the second attacker, slashing Terrum's cheek open herself.

Taken completely by surprise by the effective attack, the deep blue drake roared out in pain and backed away for a moment, giving Ikessa the opening she needed to take to the wing and escape. She did not hesitate.

"That little, insulant ..." Terrum started to curse, wiping blood from his face with the palm of his wing. He looked up to see her dive into a steep ravine to get away from them. "After her! I want her ripped to shreds!"

His order was unnecessary, as three drakes had already taken off after her, and two more were jumping into the air. The group of furious, horny drakes chased her down, but she was much more manoeuvrable in the air and they failed to quite catch up to her between the towering pinnacles of rock of the mid-Curndors. Also, she was the only dragon survivor of the infamous Massacre in the Mountains and after twisting around another enormous outcropping of rock, she dove headlong into one of the larger Yellowwood forests in the vicinity. Her immediate pursuers shot around the bend themselves only seconds later and rushed in a mad dash down the valley to catch up with her, not wanting to face their leader's fury if they failed to come back without her.

Ikessa watched them pass, daring to breathe a sigh of relief when they disappeared from view again. They would be searching for her for the rest of the day, so she had to find a better place to hide until she could make a proper escape during the dark of the night. At least her luck seemed to have turned as she quickly found a small opening beneath some loose boulders where she could remain unnoticed. Quickly, she scrambled through the low opening and breathed another sigh of relief when she was safe.

She had barely entered her sanctuary when the voices of some of her pursuers drifted to her again. She stiffened in terror as she listened to them approach, yet remain too distant to hear exactly what they were saying. Still, she caught enough phrases to follow the basic conversation. It seemed that they had realised that she had given them the slip, but was now arguing about where exactly she may now be. In the forest here, or had she already left to make her escape along another route. Or had she even been in the forest, to begin with? There was a scuffle as words turned to blows before yet another drake broke them up and ordered them to scour the adjacent valleys for other possible hiding spots.

Only when the voices died down again, did Ikessa allow herself to breathe again. She snarled in frustration and pain as she started to lick at the wounds crisscrossing her snout. They were nothing serious and had even stopped bleeding, but they were going to be leaving a noticeable pattern of scars on her face. Ignoring her ruined face, she turned her attention in the direction she had fled from with a scowl. Well, that plan had turned out to be a dud!

"Quattor's fucking balls!" she growled low to herself. "How the hell am I supposed to ..."

Her frustrated rant was interrupted by the crackle of Mana that ignited with a sharp snap right behind her in the small cavity.

"You dare insult me like that?" the spectre of the master suddenly stood there, nearly glowing with rage as he pointed an angry finger at her. "NEVER refer to me like that again, UNDERSTAND?"

Ikessa turned around to stare in surprise at the illusion of Quattor. For a moment, her mind was completely blank, but just as the demon started to grow furious again, she realised what she had done wrong. Quickly, she assumed the correct crouch before him. She may not trust him, she may not respect him. But she had quickly learned it was always a good idea to keep him appeased as much as possible.

"I ... I am sorry my lord"! she spoke as she bowed in fake respect. "I didn't realise what I was saying! I beg your forgiveness..."

"What happened to your face?" the demon asked, the insult to his name and the insolence of his Claw completely forgotten. He and he alone had the right to punish her, and he will not allow any to step on his honour!

At the question, Ikessa felt her face heat up in anger again. For a fleeting moment, she was not sure if it was the presence of Quattor affecting her emotions, or the memory of her humiliation when she had gone to ask for aid. She snarled at no-one in particular and had to force herself to remain prostrated before the master.

"Terrum, the most effective hunter of Lumors in the northern Curndors, punished me for following your orders, my lord!" she snarled, a trail of smoke escaping one nostril at the memory.

"Explain!" Quattor ordered curtly.

"I searched for your quarry as you have instructed," she started to explain, hoping she would at least be allowed to talk this time around. "However, I only caught up with them after they had already settled at the Amber Tower!"

"WHAT?" Quattor roared. Though the concussive quality of his voice could not be conveyed by his spectre, Ikessa still worried for a moment that the boulders around her were going to collapse. "I SPECIFICALLY ..."

"What is more," Ikessa shouted over the master, desperate to be heard out "is that they had gathered other dragons to them so I cannot ..."

"DO NOT INTERRUPT ..." Quattor interrupted her, his spectre seeming to grow a little bit more solid as he shouted at her. But even so, Ikessa dared to shout back.

"You asked me to explain, my lord!" she called, daring to look up and actually lock gazes with him. If she was going to die, she might as well do a proper job at infuriating him. "Do you not want me to obey?"

That dampened the demon's anger completely. It may have been her audacity to interrupt his tantrum again or the insolence of looking up at him that stunned him for a moment, and he stared at her in absolute shocked silence. Then it seems that the logic of her challenge dawned on him and he growled like a naughty hatchling at her.

"Continue," he sneered. Yet there was an obvious threat in his command that promised that if he was not satisfied with what she had to say, she would not be alive to see the sunset that day.

"They have found shelter by the Amber Tower by the time I caught up with them," Ikessa repeated quickly. "And they have attracted other Lumors around them, making it impossible for me to approach them alone. I have a plan to get them away from the Amber Tower, but for that to work I need the assistance of Terrum and his band of drakes. They are after all the group of Umbrins who had been most successful in hunting down the Lumors in your glorious name. However, when I went to talk to him, he attacked me and tried to have me raped!"

"You should have told him I sent you!" Quattor hissed, actually insulted with her.

"That is what earned me these slashes across my face!" she hissed equally angrily back at him.

"Wait here!" the demon growled, snapping out of existence without another hesitation. Ikessa stared in complete surprise at where the spectre had just stood only seconds before. Unsure what to do now, she remained standing exactly as she was, just looking at the empty spot of air. Luckily for her, she didn't remain alone for long and Quattor returned as suddenly as he had disappeared.

"Terrum is on his way to you!" the demon announced. "He is yours to do with as you see fit!"

And with that, Quattor was gone again.

Ikessa continued to stare surprised at where the illusion had just stood, her crest rising and falling in uncertainty of what exactly had happened. Terrum is coming to her? She was not really in the mood to speak with that dick again, but with the master now also having thrown his weight behind her, it was probably best that she licked this injury to her pride and pushed to see this through. Thoughtfully, she licked again at the drying blood on her snout, finally looking away from the spot where Quattor's spectre had appeared to consider her surroundings. Though it might be fun to see Terrum crawl in on his belly, this cavity would not do to properly meet with the feared leader. So, she crawled back outside to sit nearby in a patch of sunlight and wait to see what was going to happen next.

She had barely enough time to remove the long slender leaves that had caught in her scales during her escape when there was the snap of dragons backwinging nearby. She turned around and was surprised to see three dragons had landed nearby, glancing around unsure of what to do next. With a scowl, she recognized the amber drake who was so eager to fill her up and for moment Ikessa considered hiding again. She could always claim that they had failed to find her, and so avoid dealing with them again. But even as the thought occurred to her, her vow flared up brightly again, reminding her of her duty.

With a resentful sigh, she inhaled to call out to them. But as she called to them, something clicked inside her and instead of a short bark to draw their attention, she let out the long, deep whoop of a territory owner granting access to drifters to enter her territory. The three drakes who had come to see her nearly fell over at the proximity of her call, but they quickly organized themselves again and started to slink up the slope towards her position. She watched them with mixed emotions as they approached her like naughty hatchlings, with heads held low and tails dragging in the dirt. On one side, she felt vindicated that the disrespectful brutes were finally brought down low. But on the other, she worried at her own audacity to address them as if she was the territory owner. Was it to impress upon them the severity of the situation, or to get them to understand that they had to listen to what she had to say? Or was it the power of having the master at her back that had gone to her head. She didn't like that last thought. Segrien had come to rely on his ability to use magic too much and she would be damned if she were to start relying on anything or anyone but herself.

"Lady Ikessa, please accept our humble apology!" Terrum stated weakly, bowing his head low enough to press his snout firmly into the leaf litter.

"We - we didn't know ..." Erktull quickly added, but whereas his leader spoke with an honest apology, the amber drake whimpered in fear of what was about to befall him. It made Ikessa's scales crawl to see the drake that had been so full of himself grovel like that and she turned her attention away from him with disgust.

"That still doesn't give you the right to have treated me like that!" the young draine growled, focusing her gaze on the deep blue leader of the group. Still, she barely managed to supress a delighted croon at how they had addressed her. 'Lady' was it? She really liked the sound of that!

The three before her flinched visibly at her accusation and seemed to shrink down even lower towards the ground. Despite herself, Ikessa smirked at the display. She really liked the feeling of power over dragons twice to three times her age. The sudden desire to humiliate them in revenge for their treatment of her flared up inside her mind, but she immediately noticed the dangerous emotions and with a sigh, forced herself to be practical about this.

"The master told you my name?" the new Claw commented surprised when she had her emotions under control.

"He-he did!" Terrum replied, stuttering at the mention of the master. "He-he told us to obey your word as his own, or-or face his wrath!"

"What else did he tell you?" she dared to ask. What had the master told them to get this reaction out of them? On second thought, maybe she didn't want to know.

"Only that ... that we are to a-attack ... the Amber Tower!" Terrum announced, the little self-assuredness he still had quickly crumbled away at the thought of the impossible order given to them.

"What?" Ikessa snorted in surprise, the force of her voice causing the three drakes to flinch again. "I never ... " she sighed to get her emotions under control again. "Do you males ever think with anything other than your dicks?"

"I ... I am sorry," Terrum started to say, his nerves finally breaking.

"Will you stop that!" she snapped. "Stand up and look at me!"

Terrum obeyed hesitantly, and Ikessa was shocked to see the raw fear shining in his eyes. The overconfident drake who had ordered her raped was completely gone, replaced with this shell who knew with absolute certainty that he and those who followed him was about to die. Though the blue drake rose to meet her gaze, he still kept his head lower than hers in humiliation. The other two also started to rise onto their feet, but a quick "Not You!" from her quickly sent them collapsing back to the ground in submission. Which was fine by her; she did not want to have to look at them anytime soon.

"We cannot attack the Amber Tower!" Terrum dared to beg her, seeing that he was allowed to stand up in her presence. "With them at their full strength, it will take much more than my small group to do so! Please, my lady, I don't want to lead my followers to their deaths!"

"And I want to be at home, taking care of the previous Claw's only remaining hatchling!" Ikessa snapped irritated. "But here we are!"

"As ... as you say," Terrum whimpered, unable to hold her gaze any longer. Next to him, Erktull whimpered like a scared hatchling and on his other side, the unknown red started shaking. Ikessa sighed at the reaction from the other dragons. Yes, she had wanted them to listen to what she had to say, but this mindless obedience was starting to grate against her. Was this how all dragons treated Segrien when he was Claw? Was it because she didn't show him this absolute subservience that he had decided to start mating her in the first place?

"We are not going to attack the Amber Tower directly," the new Claw finally sighed, hoping to ease the terror of the dragons before her. "That will be suicide. But I still need your help!"

"I don't understand ..." Terrum started to say, daring once more to look up at her.

"Are you going to listen to me this time?" the young draine growled, narrowing her eyes and Terrum quickly looked away again.

"Y-yes, my lady!" he quickly agreed.

Another squeak from Erktull drew Ikessa's attention and she sneered down at the amber drake with more than a little disgust. Amazing how harsh and full of himself he was when he thought he had the power to do as he pleased, only to become this pathetic weakling when the winds shifted against him. She should be careful that she did not become like him while the strength of the master was behind her. Terrum on the other wing, was at least trying to protect the dragons with him. Despite what he had done to her, she thought she could work with him in the very least.

"Take a walk with me," she ordered the deep blue drake. With an obvious nervous gulp, he obeyed and followed her a short distance away. As they walked, he continued to be mindful not to raise his head higher than her own, making Ikessa wonder if he would start crawling if she were to lower her head enough.

"Forgive me for asking," Terrum suddenly whispered nervously, but eager to break the oppressive silence "but you seem rather young to be the Claw of the Master!"

"You think?" Ikessa growled irritated. She sighed when Terrum flinched in shame and lowered his head even further, realizing that she should be more tactful if she was to get anything done.

"It wasn't my choice!" she admitted with a scowl. "But I was mated to the previous Claw, the one you met, and I did much to aid him in his final quest for the master. Therefore, the master has seen it fit to name me his heir when he was killed."

"The Claw is dead?" Terrum yelped in true shock, forgetting for a moment to keep his head lower than hers. He snapped his head up to stare at her in disbelief, his crest raised in slight fear at the implications. "How?"

"You mentioned the one rumoured to be Lunintur reborn?" the new Claw asked with a knowing tilt of her head. As Terrum grew wide-eyed in realization, she confirmed his worst fears. "Let's just say Segrien and I found him."

"Great Gullivarth!" Terrum gasped, scattered rumours he had heard suddenly starting to click into place. "So, the rumours of the Gurroc clan ..."

"Is true," Ikessa confirmed with a defeated sigh. "They lost most of their army and their entire high command on the peninsula, trying to kill this dragon. And now," she turned to fix him with a meaningful glare "we have been tasked with that job."

"The Gurroc is the strongest of the orc clans!" Terrum moaned worriedly before correcting himself with a shake of his head. "Or was, I guess. Now I doubt they will be able to keep their territory anymore!"

"It is not our place to interfere with the infighting in the Shadowlands," Ikessa commented, the thought of her hatchling being raised right in the middle of that weakened region breaking her heart. But the best chance he and her mother would have is to keep away from assisting anyone and renegotiating hunting and accommodation rights with whoever takes over as chieftain of the Gurroc Gap.

"So, how does the Amber Tower fit into this?" Terrum asked, quickly lowering his head again when he realized he had been walking upright for a while.

"Mistress Senna has managed to evict this dragon from the Peninsula, so he is now within our reach," she replied, absentmindedly looking off towards the west as if she could see the dragon they were talking about. "But the problem is that many of the surviving Lumors have started to gather around him, as I understand you are aware. I am aware of six, maybe seven of them already with him, although there is a good chance that there may be more by now. And critical according to the master, they have all taken up residence near the Amber Tower."

"How did he manage that?" the drake asked surprised when a worrying thought crossed his mind. "Had ... had he managed to revive the old alliance between the Seleborians and the Lumors?"

"Something along those lines," the draine admitted with an upset growl. "But something much more ... intimate, it seems."

"Intimate?" Terrum asked with a frown.

"Honestly, I don't even know how else to put it!" the Claw admitted. "They each have Seleborian companions who ride on their backs into battle!"

"What!" Terrum growled, forgetting once again to be scared of the young draine. "No self-respecting dragon will allow themselves to be ridden like a horse..."

"And yet, together they were able to defeat the previous Claw even though he had the advantages of strength, skill, experience and even magic on his side!" Ikessa snapped angrily back. Terrum flinched at her tone again, lowering his head in subservience, but she did not back down. It was important that he did not make the same mistakes they had made at the little human town. "Remember that the gryphons who does the same thing had kept Gullivarth himself out of the Peninsula. Never underestimate something just because you disagree with it!"

"As ... as you say, my lady," the blue drake accepted her opinion.

"This phenomenon is dangerous," the Claw continued, as much to herself as her companion "and we must destroy them now while they are at their weakest. I fear they will only become stronger from here on out and we cannot have that."

"Forgive me for asking," Terrum dared to ask again, now truly worried about the mess this draine had brought over him and his ramble of young drakes. "How ... how is it that you plan to kill them. Especially now that they are safely at the Amber Tower?"

"The actual fight against them, I will leave up to you," Ikessa replied with a confident nod to herself. "You have, after all, destroyed three previous gatherings of Lumors before. And as you have pointed out, I am still very inexperienced. As for the issue with the Amber Tower, I have a plan to draw them out."

She turned to regard the drake next to her, flashing him a grin that made the hardened warrior squirm with worry.

"Something they will not be able to ignore!"

... to be continued