FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sulvius pulled the van into a private drive deep in the mountains. Ryan loved the scenery but had become quite tired of the drive. He was relived, mostly, to be at their destination. The drive was blocked by a large iron fence anchored by large brick columns on either side, with more rails extending left and right off into the trees. A small guard shack stood next to the gate and a man dressed in casual clothes, wearing sunglasses, stepped out.

He had a revolver holstered at his hip.

Ryan unconsciously shifted close to Tanner and Tanner, perhaps just as unconsciously, put his arm around Ryan's shoulders. Sulvius rolled own the window of the minivan as the guard approached.

"This is a private drive, sir," the man said in a polite but firm voice.

"We're with Saint George Steel on contract," Sulvius replied.

The man frowned. "How many?"

"Two employees, three contractors."

"Are you expecting any vendors?"

Sulvius shook his head. "No, but it's still possible."

The man nodded. "Hold on just a moment."

The guard went back into the shack and picked up a phone. After a moment he waved them through the gates as they swung open ponderously. Sulvius headed down the drive which curved right and then gently left, hiding the length of it from view of the gates. Small brick walls about two feet high stood on either side of the drive with lamp posts every few feet. Visibility stretched only a short ways beyond the walls; the foliage and trees made an impenetrable verdant wall that blocked all sight.

Suddenly they were out of the trees as they drove down a gentle slope. Ryan's eyes nearly bulged at the sight of the huge house and the even larger lawn that it sat on. The grass seemed to go on for miles in front of and to either side of the house. A huge garden seemed to start on the sides of and extend towards the rear of the house, so large that Ryan could not see the end of it. Tennis and basketball courts lay to one side and what looked to be an indoor swimming pool, along with an absolutely huge outdoor pool.

The house sat in the cusp of a small valley that narrowed as it stretched behind the house and extended off into the haze in front of it. The home appeared to be three stories with a center portion and two wings that slanted off of either side. The front was plastered with white stucco and a red tile roof graced the top. The windows were of a modern sort, darkly tinted or even reflective agains the bright sun, though the center portion of the house looked to be older to Ryan. He shook his head in amazement. "It is so very big!"

Sulvius laughed. "What did you expect? They built it to accommodate dragons."

Ryan looked around for dragons as they pulled into the circular driveway but did not see any to his disappointment, at least none in their natural form. He wondered if they were allowed to be in their dragon form here. There had to be someplace where they could be dragons without fear of discovery! He was about to ask Sulvius when he stopped the van.

Standing on the steps of the house was a short, stocky man with a large frown on his face. Sulvius stepped out of the fan and greeted him. "Hello Cladden. Sorry to have dropped in unannounced."

"That's what we're here for," Cladden replied looking the party over as they stepped out of the van, groaning and stretching their legs. "I'll have your luggage taken up to your rooms." Ryan noted that he man had a faint english accent and glanced up at Tanner to see if he had noticed. Tanner was looking around the grounds with interest but either did not notice or did not care that Cladden may have been a fellow countryman.

Cladden gestured for them to follow him inside. They stepped into the foyer and Ryan looked around curiously. Southwestern style decorations abounded. Mexican beadwork, a huge bleached cow skull hanging on the wall, charis and a table with legs made from finished, uncut red oak logs, and so on. The floor was covered in terra cotta looking floor tiles. Cladden lead them into a large office that sat off one side of the foyer.

The office had white plaster walls with the occasional picture of the Arizona country side. Bookshelves stood behind a huge desk that looked to be ancient, though sturdy. Some of the shelves were of the regular variety while others the barrister type, some of them with the doors swung out and open with papers nearly falling out of them. On the desk sat a computer, a large leather pad, a small container of pens and a couple of picture frames that were facing away from them.

A couch sat along one wall, several high backed leather seats with silver tacks along the edges. Cladden waved them into the seats and sat sat down behind the desk in a huge leather executive style chair. Ryan sat down between his parents on the couch, trying not to let his anxiety show. His parents noticed it of course and his mother rubbed his back reassuringly. Tanner sat in one of the chairs next to Sulvius who took the one right in front o fate desk. The two relaxed easily, but then Sulvius obviously knew Cladden and Tanner had probably done this sort of thing before, Ryan reasoned.

Cladden tapped at his computer keyboard, still frowning. He looked around at all of them and Ryan felt his eyes linger on him for a moment. He finally looked at Sulvius. "So what's this all about?"

Sulvius glanced around the room. "We're secure?"

If it were possible Cladden's frown grew deeper. "Of course."

Sulvius nodded. "Has there been any word of them?"

Cladden cocked his head. "If I understand who you are talking about, no, there has not been any word on them for some time as you well know. Why are you--" he stopped abruptly and looked over at Ryan. Ryan winced and leaned closer to his mother, swallowing nervously, and his father put a hand on his chest.

"Stop staring at him." Allen said tersely.

Cladden shook his head. "I am sorry; I did not intend to." He looked away from Ryan but his eyes seemed to drift back as if irresistibly draw to his face.

Sulvius sighed. "Ryan, come here please."

Ryan looked at his parents nervously and they nodded to him, trying to keep their own fear in check to avoid further upsetting the boy. He stood and shakily walked over to Sulvlius, keeping his focus locked on him, studiously ignoring Cladden's gaze as it tracked him as he walked to Sulvius. Ryan stopped in front of Sulvius. "Please, Sulvius, I am scared," he said, his voice trembling.

"There is no reason to be, I promise you Ryan," Sulvius said soothingly. He sat up straight. "Shift forms for me, Ryan."

"But Sulvius, I..." Ryan trailed off, looking over his shoulder at his parents. They nodded, both of them still trying to hide their growing anxiety. Ryan sensed it and nearly ran back to them. Sulvius put his hand gently on Ryan's arm.

"No one will harm you Ryan. I promise. There is no need to fear; you are amongst friends."

Ryan looked around nervously again and swallowed. He shifted to his small form and quickly scrambled into Sulvius' arms and buried his head against his chest, trembling.

Cladden sat up straight, a look of surprise. "You have found him!"

"Yes," Sulvius said, stroking Ryan's back. "Yes."

Beth nearly jumped out of her seat to run and grab her son from Sulvius' arms and flee with him before anything else could happen to scare him. The fear that Ryan was about to be taken from them by these dragons, who claimed them as their prince, was nearly overwhelming for a moment and it was all she could do not to give into it.

Allen watched wordlessly, his face the impenetrable mask he wore when he was faced with his son's draconic behavior or, in this case, the reality that he was a dragon and evidently a very important one. He wanted to snatch Ryan away for much the same reason as his wife.

"You found him," Cladden repeated, sitting back hard in his chair.

Sulvius gently pulled Ryan away from his chest and looked into the frightened young dragon's eyes. "Would you like to go back to your parents?"

"Y-yes please, Sulvius," Ryan stammered, looking longingly over at his parents.

Sulvius stood and carried Ryan over toy ten, carefully setting him down between them. Ryan scrambled into his mother's open arms and his father moved closer to pet him.

"He is well?" Cladden asked.

Sulvius nodded. "Quite. They've done a good job in raising him and seeing to his health."

Cladden looked over at the young dragon who had his head tucked into his mother's arm. "Does he know who he is?"

"Yes, but he's only just found out and isn't very sure of himself. Please be easy on him."

"How could I be anything less?" Cladden said, smiling.

Beth finally coaxed Ryan to sit up in her lap. Cladden was watching him, smiling gently. Ryan met his gaze with an uncertain expression. "I am sorry to have made you nervous, my prince. We are all so very grateful that you have been found safe and sound."

"Thank you, sir," Ryan said, his voice quavering.

"I hardly deserve a sir from you, my prince," Cladden said, smiling larger.

"I am not a prince..." Ryan said, trailing off uncertainly.

"You are, Ryan," Cladden said softly. "But there is time enough to sort that out later. Right now, it's enough to know that you are alive, safe, and healthy." He suddenly pulled out a handkerchief, ostensibly to blow his nose. Ryan drew back when Cladden pulled the handkerchief away and saw that his cheeks were damp with tears. His mother stroked his neck and murmured assurances to him.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Allen said abruptly.

Cladden shrugged. "That depends on why Sulvius brought the prince here."

"Please, do not call me that!" Ryan said desperately.

"Alright, alright Ryan," Cladden said soothingly.

"Easy Ryan, it will be okay," Sulvius said and looked to Cladden. "I brought Ryan here because I became aware that certain people were being asked certain questions. There were signs that they were getting close to figuring out where Ryan was so I decided to move him. Better to be safe than sorry though I do regret the upheaval that it has caused."

"How did you find him?"

"As you may know I was working for a school district and he was one of my students. When he first came to me I started to suspect that he may have been a dragon and, after a few visits, was sure of it. I didn't think much of it at the time, figuring that we would see each other and some gathering or another and we would have a good laugh about it.

"Something happened a few days ago that forced the issue and he was revealed as a dragnet o me. When I saw him in his dragon form I was certain of who he was by his colors, the look of him, and the fact that he trilled for me unconsciously."

Cladden nodded. "And so you came here. You hid your tracks?"

"Of course, but we should still be careful. I am not sure of the extent of the discovery or what is known."

Tanner coughed. "I fear I may have had something to do with that."

Cladden looked over at Tanner, frowning. "And who are you?"

"Tanner Wilberforce."

"Ah. Norian is a friend of my fathers," Cladden remarked.

Tanner brightened. "Really? My father was Clive and my grandfather's name was Arthur. Perhaps you have met them?"

"I met your grandfather at a gathering when I was younger and your father once when I was over on business. He was staying with Norian at the time. Is he well?"

Tanner shook his head sadly. "Passed away about six years ago."

"I am so very sorry to hear of it. You said that you had somehow set this off?"

Tanner sighed. "Yes. I met Ryan while I was over here on sabbatical. I figured out he was a dragon by the way he acted and told him that I knew. It about scared the poor boy to death I fear. I learned that he had been raised by humans and told to stay away from other dragons which seemed odd to me, so I started to investigate. Obviously I had no idea that it was to protect him.

"When I got back to the UK and spoke with a friend of mine about Ryan, describing his colors and his body structure and so on, he clammed up about it and wouldn't say anything else. He called Norian and told him what I had been looking into and Norian came to see me, telling me that it was dragon only business and that I should stay away from him. He wanted to know where Ryan was but I had promised Ryan and his family that I would say nothing.

"I was mulling over what I should do when two men came to my door one night, asking about Ryan. I put them off and called Norian from a pay phone. He flew me down to his estate, then sent me to the USA to visit a friend of mine here. I decided to go to Ryan's family to warn them instead and, well, here we are." Tanner sighed. "I fear that I may have alerted whoever is looking for him to his presence."

Cladden considered for a moment. "That may well be, but it is not as if you did it on purpose and he is at least safe now." He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the celling for a moment, lost in thought. "I will be in contact with Norian later today to inform him of the situation and that you are okay, Tanner. Doubtless he has worried about you. We will keep this under wraps until we can figure out who knows what and how we should proceed. At least we can give Ryan a chance to adjust to his new situation."

Everyone nodded and Ryan hesitantly spoke up. "Please, Cladden, do you know of my parents? Are they--" he stopped, unable to voice the second question.

Cladden sighed. "I fear that we do not know Ryan. No one has heard from them in about 14 years."

Ryan stared at him and started to tremble, then turned his head to his mother and started weeping quietly.

Cladden sighed. "I fear I could have said that better."

"It is of no matter, Cladden. He would have had to have found out sooner or later," Sulvius said.

"Buck up, lad," Tanner said, going over to him. "Not hearing doesn't mean they're gone. They could be well hidden; dragons are very good at it."

"Thank you, Tanner," Ryan said in a small voice. Tanner ran his hands over Ryan's head and down his neck, soothing him, and his mother mouthed "Thank you."

After awhile Ryan sat up and composed himself. "What happened to my parents? Who are they running from? Why...why did they leave me?"

"I will tell you what I know, Ryan," Cladden said.

"I have told them about the war," Sulvius said.

"Alright. Then you know that your breed is considered to be royalty after a fashion. The reasons for this are lost to us, no one is exactly certain as to why it is. Personally I believe it is because of the wisdom of your breed and the fact that you can trill and help calm some of the more excitable dragons out there. Your breed has always been noble and trustworthy one, Ryan, the idea of royalty notwithstanding.

"After the war things seemed to go back to normal. The various lines of the royal family went about their business just like any other dragon. One of the oddities of your breed is a low rate of reproduction. They do not produce as many hatchlings as other dragons.

"Like most dragons, your breed has a tendency for privacy. As such, over the centuries for various reasons, no one seemed to note that there were less and less of your kind. Some died in accidents, others of what appeared to be natural deaths. Looking back, some of those accidents and natural deaths were very suspicious. Not too long ago some unsettling news came to light: the only dragons of your breed left were your mother and father and their parents. No one was sure of how this went unnoticed for so long but no matter how it happened, it became a major issue and the council quickly convened to discuss it.

"Obviously, the only way to increase the population was to have your parents and grandparents have more hatchlings. The low clutch rate of your breed became an issue and several healers and biologists started looking into the problem. It was hoped that your parents would become mates, perhaps I should say strong encouraged that they should become mates, and after a brief courtship they did so. The world rejoiced when it was announced that your mother was gravid with you.

"Then something happened that stunned the draconic world. Your mother's parents were murdered, slammed into a canyon wall during a flight. They tried to make it look like an accident but obviously hasty planning left far too many clues. An investigation was started by the council and it became all to clear that someone inside the council or working for the council was purposely loosing information and hindering the investigation.

"Your father's parents were gunned down in cold blood a few months later, despite our efforts to protect them, taken down before they could shift forms to protect themselves."

Cladden looked down, gripping the desk hard, trying to master himself. "Your parents took to moving around after that, running if you will, though your father strongly objected to the term. We took steps to protect them but it seemed as if whoever was on the inside was keeping close enough watch that they were always discovered again." Cladden paused again, as if considering something. "There are other things that happened as well that convinced them that their best choice of action would be to give you up to humans for adoption and for them to vanish for awhile until the situation could be sorted.

"The last message from them was that you had hatched, your colors, and that they were going into deep hiding. I'm afraid no one has heard anything since, Ryan." He looked up at the young dragon with a miserable expression. "I am so very sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I do so wish I had something more to offer you, my prince."

Ryan looked around at everyone and then suddenly burst into sobs. His mother held him close rocking him and everyone looked on, hating themselves for telling him such news but having no idea what they could have done otherwise.

They brought Ryan a soda and let him calm down. Sulvius and Cladden chatted amongst themselves, discussing draconic matters from recent hatchings to upcoming gatherings. Ryan's parents stayed close to him, talking to him quietly, trying to reassure him. Tanner walked around the office, idly examining books and decorations, pausing to look out one of the windows.

He wanted to go to Ryan and comfort him as his parents were, but was fairly sure that he would not be welcome. Ryan's parents still mistrusted him despite his assurances and he had no idea how to earn their trust. He still worried that they would try to keep him from Ryan or even that the dragons would try to keep him away from their prince. Both idea were utterly repugnant to him but he had no idea what to do about either.

His thoughts drifted to Susan, briefly, and he wondered if he should try to get in contact with her. He left her a message that he had a family emergency, but said nothing more than that. She would guess it was dragon related; he really had no family to speak of otherwise. He had to admit to himself that he was actually more worried about Nicholas the Guinea Pig than Susan, as terrible a thought as that was. He hoped Nicholas was in good hands. He told Norian about him and Norian said he would contact Per to help take care of him. Hopefully Wastrel would have the same reaction that most cats had to guinea pigs, and that was to run in terror. Guinea pigs, it seemed, didn't register in the realm of feline existence as a food source and as such had to be avoided at all costs.

He looked over at Ryan and the little dragon seemed to be recovering from the shock. He wished he could help him. Seeing him sitting there, trembling, and being unable to do anything about it hurt more than he expected. Again, he wondered, why Ryan? He sighed, hoping he would figure it out.

The phone rang and Cladden answered it. "Ok, thank you," he said to whoever was on the other side and looked over to Ryan. "Are you feeling better?"

Ryan nodded. "Yes, sir."

Cladden smiled. "Good. Your rooms are ready for you, if you should wish to rest."

Beth nodded. "Oh that would be wonderful. I could use a nap about now." She stood up with Ryan in her arms and he squirmed, wanting down. She sighed and sat him on the couch.

"Ryan, before you shift forms, would you mind trilling for me?" Cladden asked.

Ryan looked up at his parents who nodded. He suddenly took shy, ducking his head slightly ears drooping, and gave a soft trill that he did to calm himself. Cladden's eyes grew wide.

"Wow, that does have an effect doesn't it?"

Sulvius nodded. "Yes, and he's not even pushing it."

Ryan ducked his head again and Cladden chuckled. "Shift forms, Ryan, and we will get you to your rooms."

Ran obediently shifted to his human form and Cladden pressed a button on his phone. A man walked in and looked at him curiously. "Please escort Ryan and his guests to their rooms."

"Yes sir," the man said in a polite voice.

They followed him into the foyer and down the hall to an elevator. They rode the elevator up to the third level and followed the man down one of the wings. He lead them down a hallway to a couple of doors, gesturing to the one on the right. "This room is for Ryan and his family. The other is for Tanner and Sulvius."

They thanked the man who nodded and walked briskly down the hallway. Allen looked over at Sulvius. "Well?"

"Relax for awhile," Sulvius said quietly. "I will be in in just a moment to discuss a few things with you. They will most likely have lunch ready for us soon."

"Fine," Allen said and opened the door to their room. Ryan looked at his father and then glanced over at Tanner who nodded.

"You'll be just fine, Ryan."

"Thank you, Tanner," the young dragon said quietly and followed his parents into his room.

The room was very large and well appointed, just the front room was quite nearly bigger than their entire apartment back home and was certainly nicer. The carpet was white, thick, and very luxurious, paintings of nature scenes hung on the pristine white walls, and the air was cool and pleasant. A large white leather sofa took up part of the room, facing a large screen TV that hung on the wall. A huge king sized plus bed sat in a room off of the main one and a small kitchen sat on the other side. A sliding glass door lead out to a balcony that overlooked the gardens, the curtains currently closed.

"Wow," Beth murmured and all Ryan could do was nod mutely in agreement.

The family started to explore the room, poking around the bathroom (complete with jacuzzi and a huge walk in shower), the kitchen and looking over the entertainment center. Ryan walk dover to the sliding glass doors and pulled the curtain open. He swore loudly in draconic and stepped away from the window in shock. "Ryan?" his mother said and both of his parents hurried into the main room, fearing he had hurt himself. Beth walked up to him and then stopped, looking out into the garden in shock. "Oh my lord," she said breathlessly.

Sitting in the backyard was a huge dragon, at least fifty foot from nose tip to tail, his head easily came up to the second, if not the third story of the house. He was helping two other dragons who were in their bipedal forms move some boulders from a truck into the garden. The rocks had to weigh thousands of pounds each.

He was picking them up and moving them as if they were cotton balls.

The dragon was a read color, darkening along his back and lightening along his belly. His eyes were protected by heavy ridges and were a bright yellow color, slit pupiled like Ryan's. His nose tapered down to a point above his jaw, nearly beak like, and a set of spines ran down his back. Horns jutted magnificently back from his head and a red pattern of scales ran around his eyes and down his cheeks as well as back over his head where they ran down his back, widening as they went. His tail ended in a heart shaped tip, his muscles rippling as he moved the boulders, well sculpted and defined.

He was quite simply intimidating as all hell.

"So you've seen Chaos then," Sulvius said behind them, causing Ryan to jump.

"Chaos?" Beth asked nervously.

Sulvius laughed. "That's not his actual name of course. It's actually Kheros, but one of the humans mispronounced it one day and everyone thought it was funny, so it gets brought up now and again. He's actually a very nice dragon, despite his size, and a pilot as well."

"Pilot?" Ryan asked with interest.

Sulvius nodded. "Planes, helicopters, and probably anything else that can fly. He's also a professional driver. If it has wings or wheels, he can fly or drive it. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to give you a ride."

"Perhaps later," Ryan said nervously, looking back at the huge dragon. He looked down at the other two dragon who were in their bipedal forms. One of them was a dark green color with bright orange patterns. It had a large frill than ran down it's back that would flare out every time it picked something up.

The other one looked a great deal like Sulvius or even himself, save that it was a dark bronze and green color. Ryan cocked his head, considering. "Does your breed always have two colors, Sulvius? Does mine?"

Sulvius nodded. "Yes, it's one of our traits if you will. It is so very rare to see a dragon of our breed that has only a single color. Lunch is ready, if you will follow me."

Ryan reluctantly turned away from the window, still entranced by his first encounter with a dragon in its natural form. Sulvius put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Ryan. There will be plenty of time to see other dragons, I promise."

Ryan nodded and followed Sulvius out the door. Tanner was waiting in the hallway for them and smiled when he saw Ryan. Ryan grinned at him, relieved to see Tanner. There was something he found comforting about the man's presence. He walked over to Tanner and hugged him and Tanner patted him on the back.

Sulvius led them to the central part of the building and down some stairs to a private dining room. There was a table with enough room for at least eight people and a bar along the back wall with wine glasses hanging from a rack and bottles of liquor stacked on shelves behind. Cladden was in the room, talking to someone on a phone. He looked up. "I am sorry; I will be with you in just a moment. Help yourself to anything you would like from the bar if you wish," he said gesturing.

Ryan sat down with his parents while Tanner poured himself a rum and coke. Sulvius walked over to the bar. "Would you like a soda, Ryan?" Ryan nodded and Sulvius pulled a bottle from a refrigerator that sat under the bar. Fog wafted down the sides of the bottle and Ryan looked at it with delight. Soda always tasted better coming from a glass bottle. Sulvius opened the bottle with a hiss of escaping carbonation and brought the bottle to Ryan. The young dragon took a drink and sighed happily. It was every bit as good as he remembered.

Cladden hung up the phone and smiled at Ryan. "We get soda in the big bomber bottles as most dragons prefer it that way. We can get most anything you like."

"RC?" Ryan asked hopefully.

"Certainly. We should have some for you by dinner."

"I do not wish to be any trouble," Ryan said, looking down.

"It is no trouble. It is an honor to serve you my- I mean, Ryan," Cladden said with a grin.

Cladden abruptly shifted to his bipedal form and Ryan nearly snorted his soda up his nose in surprise. Beth laughed at him. "Now you know what it's like! One moment there's a human standing there and then the next moment a dragon!"

Ryan wiped his face and grumbled at this, then looked over at Cladden. He was a light green color, very heavily built, and his wings seemed oddly jointed to Ryan though he couldn't quite put his finger on what was odd about them. His muzzle was short and stubby, his face broader than any dragon Ryan had seen up to this point. A ridge ran down his back and along his tail and he smiled at Ryan's observations. "I am from the British isles, as you can probably tell by my accent, that is why I look a bit different from most of the dragons around here."

"Oh," Ryan said, though he had no way of comparing.

Two people walked into the room, a man and a woman. The man was huge, standing about 6' 9" tall and had black hair and large, friendly features. The woman was slim, blond, and Ryan's eyes about popped out of his head at the sight of her. She was quite simply one of the most beautiful women that Ryan had ever laid eyes on. His mother smacked his leg under the table. "Don't stare!"

The man walked into a closet on the far side of the room and pulled out a huge beanbag like chair. He moved some chairs away from the table and tossed the beanbag down in their place, then shifted to his bipedal form. If the man was large as a human, he was toweringly huge as a bipedal dragon. Bright red hide that lightened to a pale cream along his belly and horns that swept back from his head made for a very intimidating sight, to say nothing of his sheer bulk and height. Ryan noticed the patterns of scales that ran around his eyes and started, realizing that this must be Kheros, the same dragon from the garden. Kheros sat down on the cushion, which brought him to a more level height with everyone, and smiled at them, somehow managing to not seem even more threatening.

Ryan looked at the dragoness and about passed out. She was absolutely, stunningly gorgeous, predominately a light gold color that faded into white, with gold striations that ran up her arms. She was lithe, lean, and clearly built for speed, her legs long and powerful. Ryan could tell that her wingspan would be prodigious, even with them fully closed and tucked tightly against her back. Her muzzle was long and elegant, her brow low, giving her head an almost swept back appearance. She looked fast just sitting still.

Ryan felt someone grab his knee and squeeze hard and he looked at his mother in shock. She shook her head at him, glaring. "Behave!" she hissed.

"Thank you two for joining me for lunch," Cladden said.

"It is of no matter," the female said in a soft voice that made Ryan's heart skip a beat as he started at her.

"No problem!" Kheros said cheerfully, his voice as big and deep as he was.

"I would like to introduce our guests," Cladden said, gesturing to the party sitting at the table. "You may perhaps know Sulvius." Sulvius nodded to Kheros and the female and they both nodded in return.

"The man next to him is a dragon friend, Tanner Wilberforce," Cladden said and Tanner nodded respectfully to the two dragons. The two dragons nodded in return, the female looking at him curiously.

"Allen and Beth are also dragon friends," Cladden continued and paused for a moment, looking at Ryan. "And this...is Ryan." Cladden gestured to Kheros. "This huge lump here is Kheros," he said and Kheros grinned at them. Ryan's mother swallowed nervously at the sight of Kheros' teeth. "And this beautiful dragoness is Kitharelliean. I think I got that right."

"Just call me Kith, everyone else does," Kith said in her soft, melodic voice. She cocked her head. "It is obvious that the boy is with Allen and Beth. Why did you introduce him separately?"

Cladden hesitated and looked over at Sulvius. Sulvius looked over at Ryan who swallowed around a lump in his throat, his heart pounding. Sulvius sighed. "Shift forms please, Ryan."

Ryan looked down, trembling for a moment, then shifted to his small dragon form with no argument. Kith gasped at the sight of him, standing up partially, a hand going to her mouth, the sight of which Ryan honestly found to be a quite gratifying. He nearly preened for her on the spot.

Kheros looked startled and the stood up, towering over the table. "The prince has been found!" he said in a joyous, booming voice. Ryan chirped in alarm and dove into his fathers arms, nearly knocking him out of his chair.

"Very good, Kheros," Kith said dryly. "The prince is newly found and you just about scared him back into hiding."

"Oops," Kheros said sheepishly an quietly sat down.