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"When magic first came to Selebore is unknown, for it gradually appeared seemingly from nowhere. Of course, there had been rumours of unnatural events for several decades around the time scholars thought magic had first appeared, such as a localized but severe snowstorm in mid-summer or the complete disappearance of a caravan or on one occasion even a whole town. But these were often explained as a natural coincidence or at the very least fanciful tales meant to scare children into listening to their elders. However, in 2044 [of the First Age] the rumours of people capable of creating displays of light and heat with their bare hands were confirmed in a court of law. The unnecessary trial orchestrated by a fanatic religious group and consequent execution of the first recorded magus, Ingrim Thorrian, would have remained an unimportant and localized affair, if the Arthulle Royal Court not gotten involved. The Royal Family, who at the time was trying to suppress a family scandal, jumped at the opportunity to draw attention away from themselves by initiating a nationwide witch hunt, a name historians would later use to refer to the following thirteen decades.

However, the 'Great Witchhunts' initially failed to gain real support from the populous. Although several people were arrested, tried and executed with pomp and circumstance in the following years, most people still did not believe in or feared the existence of magic. It did, however, help the existing magi to form societies with the purpose of exploring the secrets of their gift together, as well as to find and train new novices. Most of them met in the basements of popular pubs or inns of sympathizers, therefore they were often referred to by their hosts' name, like The Golden Ring, The Swansong and The Ivory Dagger. They still kept mostly to themselves to train and study magic, though on rare occasions they did not hesitate to act to assist in the escape of magi and innocent contra-magi from authorities or an angry mob.

This all changed when, late in 2064 [of the First Age], a small band of what would later be called Shadowspawn attacked a caravan travelling from Arthulle to Kentereal. Though the caravan suffered great losses, the attack was beaten off and the heads of the imps responsible were presented to the king of Kentereal. These heads were thereafter paraded throughout the whole kingdom with the claims that all magi were destined to become like this. The twisted visages terrified and outraged the public and the little support the magi had quickly evaporated. Within a fortnight, large mobs stormed the best-known locations of magi societies, burning the entire building to the ground and killing all occupants, magus or not.

Things devolved from bad to worse when one of the magi working in The Golden Ring tried to defend their remaining sympathizers, attacking the mob with an open display of magic. Though this counterattack successfully pushed the angry citizens back, it only resulted in the authorities of all five kingdoms gaining the necessary support to launch a full scale assault upon the remaining societies. This one-sided affair of raids and mob-attacks against the uncoordinated societies would become known as the First Witch War."

Surviving extract from "Turmoil of Mana: A Complete History of the Circle of Five from The First Witch War to the Amber Rebellion" by Arthur Brightheart, renowned historian of the Golden Age.

***

Felicity stared out the large window, allowing herself a moment of serene calm as she watched the sun setting over the great lake of Lorumere. The water was reflecting the amber light of the sky perfectly and for a moment she could almost imagine seeing the dots of lights from the oil lamps that lit the streets of Garowull on the western shores of the lake. But she knew that couldn't possibly be the case. The lake itself stretched for over sixty miles from east to west, appearing more like a small ocean from her vantage point near the eastern side. Still, the view was spectacular and she allowed her mind to blank out for a bit to just enjoy the experience.

She had always wanted to visit the famed island on the eastern end of the lake, near enough to the great waterfalls to be able to hear the roar of the mighty water on a calm day. Not only was this said to be one of the most beautiful locations on the continent, but it was important to all magi for cultural and practical reasons. For instance, the original Ivory Tower was built on this very spot back in the days of the awakening and the First Witch War. That was because the first and therefore the greatest of all the Aetherfontes was located right below her feet. The flow of Mana from the fountain below her seemed to almost be strong enough to sweep her physically away on its ethereal current as well. Therefore, access to this almost sacred place was strictly controlled by the Circle of Five for that very reason. Which was a shame in her opinion, but unavoidable.

Still, here she was! Not only was she fortunate enough to find herself on the island now, but actually inside the great Eather Temple itself. Only the very select few were allowed to set foot in here. The honour made her almost giddy with excitement and she had to consciously calm herself down. She wasn't here to enjoy the sights, but for very important business. It would not do for her to lose her head over a dream come true now.

A door behind her suddenly opened and she turned to regard the stag who entered the small waiting room. She couldn't help but immediately noticed the sudden shift of the Manaflow towards the bracelet with its inlay of amber on his left arm. It was strange to see a cervid with an evoceather since their species were usually pretty good at attracting and storing Mana. Then again, the slight defect was probably why the Circle could afford to station him here. Though, from the flow of Mana she could tell that the evocaether he was wearing was not a very good one, but sufficient for the caretaker to do his duties.

"They are ready for you, miss!" the stag announced, standing patiently by the door.

"Thank you," Felicity smiled, but then frowned when she noticed the stag seemed a little nervous as he waited on her. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just," the stag hesitated for a moment, looking back over his shoulder. Finally, he admitted what it was that troubled him. "It is just rare for the entire High Council to meet outside their usual, two-year cycle. Do you know what this is about?"

"The whole council is here?" Felicity asked, shocked herself but not really too surprised. A stirring from Juinkarr was a serious issue that required immediate attention. However, she wasn't sure if it was such a good idea to reveal to just anyone the seriousness of the issue, and she avoided answering the stag, much to his distress.

"Yes," the stag replied, a little upset at not being let in on the secret. "Some even used portals to come here as quickly as possible!"

At that, Felicity gasped shocked. Portals were dangerous, difficult to cast correctly and therefore rarely done.

"Whatever this is about, it has caused quite the stir!" the stag commented as the vixen joined him.

"Thank you," she smiled at him as he held the door open, hoping to relieve his worries a bit.

She was lead in silence down a short, narrow hall and into the main Council Hall of the temple. As expected from her, Felicity kept her eyes cast down out of respect to those assembled around her. Instead of looking around at the decor of the room few had seen, she intently studied the design on the circular floor. It was an elaborate mosaic of semiprecious stones of organic origin and consisted of a swirl of coloured bands. the ribbons twirled and bend around each other in a dizzying dance before each colour erupted from the mad tangle, each in the direction of the Magi Tower it represented. There was the deep yellow of amber, the shiny black of Jet, the light beige of Ivory, the deep red of coral, and the iridescence turquoise of nacre. After leaving the central knot, each band narrowed to end at a sharp point where the triumvirate of each tower was seated.

There was even a sixth colour, the dark brown of petrified wood. But that ribbon only pointed to an empty wall. In the direction of Juinkarr.

She had to admit that it was an impressive design, and if someone had told her that the pieces of organic stones had been saturated in Mana for so long that they have started to become sentient, she might have considered it a possibility. But she didn't like it, she decided. She had often read that in the Golden Age, the floor of this room was covered in a much more beautiful mosaic. Back then, it was a map of all of Selebore, west of the Curndor Mountains. Filled in with exquisite detail, it showed all the major cities and towns, important trade routes, and borders between the five kingdoms. But more importantly to the magi, the seven Aetherfontes, as well as the larger Aetherecista and Aetheritera, was also prominently displayed therein. She would have loved to see even just a piece of the Great Aether Map, but like so much of the Golden Age, it was completely obliterated at the start of The Shattering.

Now, it was replaced with this silly, over-excessive design that made her feel a little dizzy just looking at it. It made her feel as if the five councils were intently scrutinizing her, considering her whole being, judging her.

"The council recognizes Felicity of the Amber Tower!" the archmagus of the Ivory Tower spoke up in a deep voice. It was more masculine than what she would have expected even from the white ursine female.

Felicity looked up at the faces of the important magi arranged around her but was shocked at the emotion written on their faces. She expected a great deal of fear and especially worry, maybe even a little bit of awe at her discovery. But not this ... overwhelming disappointment and hostility.

"Is it true that you have violated Article 4 Sections A and B of the Edict of Setra regarding the reporting and harbouring of Wild Magi?" the archmagus of the Coral Tower suddenly snapped angrily at her. For a moment, Felicity blinked in surprise at the black stallion and completely forgot where she was and who was addressing her.

"Is that why the entire Circle of Five has convened?" she shot back at them. "To accuse me of harbouring a wild magus? Have you all lost your bloody minds?"

"Careful, magus!" the archmagus of the Amber Tower growled at her. "You are already on thin ice; show respect to your elders or be held in contempt!"

"I ..." Felicity started, whirling on the dark female wolf who had spoken. But when they locked eyes, Felicity remembered herself and with a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down. It was not easy, but it was necessary. She knew her own tower's archmagus to be a very levelheaded individual who won't act without careful consideration and it was always a good idea to follow her lead.

"I apologize for my outburst," the vixen on trail apologized once she felt more in control of her emotions again. "It is just we have more important matters to worry about."

"You refer to the matter of Juinkarr?" the Coral-archmagus questioned with a dismissive scoff. "There is nothing going on at the Blood-Tower."

"And how would you know that?" the archmagus of the Nacre Tower suddenly asked. The black steer leaned forward intently as if the stallion he had addressed was about to reveal the secrets of eternal life itself to him.

"Unlike you lot who are content to leave Juinkarr to rot," the Coral-archmagus snapped a little insulted "we are actively seeking to capture it and bring its Aetherfontes under the authority of the Circle of Five! In fact, our most recent expedition to Turundorth Valley returned only last year, confirming that the tower is a completely abandoned ruin!"

"And how did that expedition go?" the archmagus of the Jet tower suddenly piped up with a smirk, the tone of his voice making it obvious what he thought of any attempt to visit the cursed ruins. At the tiger's challenge, the stallion flinched visibly but remained silent. Of course, of the party of forty red magi, only two had managed to return. Seeing the stallion's flattened ears as a form of victory, the male tiger continued rather self-assured of himself. "As long as the Gurroc Gap remains open, Turundorth Valley will be exposed to the greater Shadowlands and Juinkarr will never be captured. If you want any chance of ..."

"Enough!" the Ivory-archMagus declared, forming a small Mana-shape that ignited with a sharp, loud snap to get their attention back on topic. "We are not here to debate Juinkarr!"

"With all due respect, your Excellencies" Felicity quickly spoke up in the awkward silence "but I do believe the risk of Juinkarr stirring again is too great for us not to do so."

"Because of this ... talisman you brought to elder Erthon of the Amber Tower?" the Coral-archmagus sneered down at her again. The stallion turned his withering attention to the Amber-deligation. "Can you please inform your magus what the findings were regarding that trinket?"

"I've had that talisman examined by the Jet Tower and they confirmed that it is of Juinkarr origin!" the Amber-archmagus informed them. Felicity smiled at the suddenly shocked gasps from around the room, but the wolf only nodded to her Jet counterpart to continue explaining the findings.

The Jet-archmagus cleared his throat to hide his nerves before he started to speak.

"The ring you sent to us ... what was it referred to as again ... " the tiger quickly consulted some notes he had with him "Ah, Segrien's Talisman ... is indeed an Operaether charm created by the Bloodhands, as was claimed by the yellow magus present here. However, I'm afraid that it is a very badly designed one suggesting that the charm may date from the early days of the Bloodhands."

"What do you mean?" the Nacre-archmagus asked, again leaning forward with interest.

One of the eight representatives of the Jet Tower that was seated slightly behind the archmagus suddenly stood up to speak. He was a big, heavy build white wolf with a missing ear and a rather mean-looking scar on the same side of his face.

"Well, instead of just granting the wearer the ability to mold Mana," the white wolf started to explain "the user can only mold Mana through active use of the charm. To simplify what I mean, instead of using Mana once-off to create the charm, this talisman actively consumes Mana to work. It causes the user to go through his reserves at twice the speed and leaves him as well as the charm open to suffering dangerous Manaburns much more easily in the process. The only useful aspect of the charm seems to be that it can filter the spells allowed to be cast with it."

"Yes, but the Bloodhands had often created such charms for the assassins they employed and not only at the beginning of their terror campaign!" one of the representatives of the Ivory tower, a rather fragile looking doe, quickly interjected. "It actually makes sense that they wouldn't want to give their agents too much power least it is used against them. This charm may very well be one of these rings which will make it impossible to date accurately."

"Still, you are saying that this charm is at least five hundred years old," the Coral-archmagus declared a little victoriously.

"Yes," the doe conceded a little shyly. "At the very least actually. There is no record of any activity by the Bloodhands after the Shattering."

"And there is no way to determine if this recently came form Juinkarr?" the Coral-archmagus continued.

"None!" the white wolf confirmed. "It could have been picked up anywhere by anyone."

"Much like certain charms from a well-known Serephallean magus from the Golden Age, I hear!" one of the representatives of the Corel Tower suddenly added. She smirked when her comment caused the room to start humming with concerned murmurs again.

"What about the piece of dragon ear it was attached to?" Felicity quickly spoke up, hoping to guide the conversation back to Juinkarr before she lost the argument. "It was obviously owned by a dragon of all things and someone had to give it to him."

"You should know better than most contramagi that dragons are highly intelligent, given your history!" one of the Amber representatives suddenly commented with a chuckle. "Who could have thought dragons could have the patience to learn how to read and write, yet the draine you brought to our Tower must have read the whole library by now and has even started to contribute her own works to it, I might add. This red drake you spoke of would definitely have been able to recognize the ring as magical, in which case anyone could have put it on for him."

"For instance that orc chief he followed over the Catarrum Mountains!" the Coral-archmagus added to get his point across.

"You really believe the stories of the Lúgroccae?" the Jet-archmagus asked incredulously. "We also received reports of that army of orcs coming for our sealed vaults, but they never showed up and all our preparations were wasted."

"There is some truth to the stories!" the Ivory-archmagus revealed. "It has been reliably confirmed that there has been a failed invasion of the Garbanan Peninsula by a small army of shadowspawn. That is the very reason that this special sitting of the Circle of Five has been called." The white bear turned an icy gaze at Felicity. "And you need to give an account of your actions as this wild magus of yours seems to have been at the centre of it all ... If he can cause such an upset of the natural balance before we have even heard of him, what will the consequences be if we ignore him for much longer?"

"So I ask again: Is it true that you have violated Article 4 Sections A and B of the Edict of Setra?" the Coral-archmagus asked her again with a very self-important sneer to his voice.

"I ..." Felicity replied, pulling her ears back in worry. They were not going to be leaving this alone, and it seemed that she had to deal with this before she could direct the discussion back to what was really important. "Section A ... yes!" There was a murmur of shock as she admitted her guilt and Felicity had to shout to be heard further. "But NOT section B! I have never helped him to evade the Circle of Five. In fact, I have worked constantly to convince him to come to the Amber Tower with me."

"But you have admitted to teaching him magic!" the Coral-archmagus shouted triumphantly.

"Yet, there are many within this very room that would not be magi if they hadn't have had some training before coming to the Circle themselves!" Felicity shot back angrily. "You all can attest that most magi who comes from a species with a cultural mistrust of all things magical take months before coming into the fold." She turned to direct the Coral-archmagus directly. "Your informant herself took three years before coming to the Ivory tower. I know this because we started the very same day and yet she was able to mold slightly advanced shapes already while I was still trying to understand how to just sense Mana!"

"How would you know who our informant is?" the Coral-archmagus sneered, but Felicity did not allow herself to be intimidated by him. She knew she was in the right with this.

"You really needed to ask that question?" she asked, sounding a little disbelieving that he couldn't see how obvious it was. "There are three of us who know about the wild magus..."

"Ah, yes!" she was interrupted again, this time by the Ivory-archmagus who quickly consulted her own notes on the matter. "Magus Adulf of the Nacre Tower. He was also supposed to present himself before us today, yet he is conveniently out of reach. Would you know why that is?"

"He is still on the peninsula," Felicity answered without missing a beat. "He is keeping an eye on that wild magus you are so worried about as would be expected for a responsible magus!"

"That was good thinking!" another of the Ivory representatives, this time a male cetacean quickly added. "As per Appendix A, a wild magus that have not yet officially denounced the Circle of Five may be given time to make a decision, as long as said magus is regularly surveyed and will not actively pursue a course of action that will threaten the sovereignty of the Circle."

"Which I can prove to have done this past year!" Felicity announced, smirking as she noticed from the corner of her eye how the Coral-archmagus quickly demanded the relevant document from a subordinate and started to flip through it. She made a mental note to herself to thank the dolphin for the timely help on her predicament. She remembered him fondly and had it not been for the fact that the cetacea were forced to remain near the ocean at all times, she knew he would have been eager to join the Amber Tower instead of remain where he was.

"'... as long as said wild magus does not use his magical abilities to cause harm, bring the Towers of the Magi into disrepute or threaten the relations between magi and contra-magi by disregarding the Bloodstorm treaty in any way.'" the Coral-archmagus read aloud from the Appendix that had compromised the integrity of his whole argument. "He is obviously a threat to the Bloodstorm treaty, and we cannot allow him to continue like this!"

"He doesn't intend nor has the ability to upset the current world order!" Felicity argued, sensing that the stallion had started to clutch at straws.

"And how can you possibly know what his intentions are?" The Ivory-archmagus commented.

"For starters, he lives on the Peninsula where Mana is near non-existent!" Felicity started, a little self-assured. "So he doesn't have unrestricted access to Mana like the other wild magi on the continent, not to mention the elves as a whole species. The Edict of Setra was specifically designed to reign in active magi like that."

"Yet, reports claim that he possesses the Wand of Dahrthen!" the Jet-archmagus suddenly interrupted her, pulling her whole argument to shreds.

"Speaking of which," the Coral-archmagus snapped, eagerly jumping on the opportunity. "Dahrthen was a highly respected representative of the Coral Tower towards the end of the Golden Age!"

"Respected was he now?" the Nacre-archmagus interrupted his Coral counterpart in return. "Did the Coral Tower not strip him of his authority and banish him from the Circle? I believe that is the whole reason why the elves refuse to recognize our authority in the first place."

"We ..." the Coral-archmagus hesitated, acutely aware that he couldn't argue the statement. But still, he refused to concede his point. "That does not change the fact that the Wand of Dahrthen is an important relic of the Corel Tower. We demand that it be returned to us!"

"And what about the forty-five heirlooms of the other Towers you have gathered in your vaults?" the Nacre-archmagus replied angrily himself. "Will you be returning any of them anytime soon?"

"Those charms and enchantments are too powerful for the likes of ..." the Coral-archmagus started to shout back, but the Ivory-archmagus quickly intervened before all chaos broke out.

"Enough!" she roared with another snap of Mana. "We are here to discuss the future of this wild magus and ... his dragon familiar! You will refrain from discussing other topics or be dismissed. Do I make myself clear?"

There were soft murmurs of acknowledgement and the bear sat down again with an irritated scowl.

"So on that note," the Coral-archmagus suddenly announced again with a smirk that had Felicity worried again. "Returning to the topic of Appendix A of the Edict of Setra, I would like the yellow magus here to explain to this council how burning a whole town down is not 'causing harm'!"

"It was not by his doing!" Felicity argued, appalled by the accusation. "It is absurd to even consider that he had orchestrated the attack on himself. It was by order from Juinkarr."

"Juinkarr again?" the Ivory-archmagus growled dangerously. "Stay on topic, magus. We have already shown that there is no proof that Juinkarr is in a state to order anything."

"This is where archmagus Havold's questioning lead me!" Felicity replied. "We have witnesses that someone has ordered them killed! Someone with a lot of authority within the Shadowlands! If not a Juinkarr demon-lord then who, may I ask?"

There was a warning growl from the Amber-archmagus as if they had this discussion between themselves before. Felicity acknowledged the reprimand with folding her ears back but did nothing to retract the statement.

"And for what reason, may I ask, would anyone in command of Juinkarr want him dead?" the Coral-archmagus continued in a dismissive tone. "If you are so adamant about this coming from the Blood Tower, then surely you should have an inkling as to the motive behind this."

"Well," the Jet-archmagus responded. "Since we all agree that this human has discovered the Wand of Dahrthen, it seems fair to assume that he has something else in his possession that the shadowspawn would be interested in, say a Juinkarr Hallow for instance. And if that is the case, whatever any edicts or treaties may say is null and void..."

"At the siege of Corrumwhell," Felicity finally started to admit, hating herself even as she started to speak. "I was informed that someone was in search of their hearts. Your informant was also present, so she can confirm this!"

There was a quiet hesitation as the gathered council tried to make sense of her statement. Eventually, it was the Jet-archmagus who broke the silence with a shocked snort.

"You mean," the tiger gasped worriedly "someone is attempting to recreate the Juinkarr Hallows?"

At that, the entire room burst into a deafening commotion and the Ivory-archmagus had difficulty getting the room into order again. Eventually, she had to form that snapping Mana-shape three times before the gathered council members gave heed to her shouting for order. But even then, there was some arguing going on between archmagi stubbornly unwilling to concede their points of view.

"This changes everything!" the Amber-archmagus growled, clearly upset that Felicity had tried to keep this tidbit of information from her. It was probably a mistake to allow the wolf to be blindsided like this, but one Felicity was still sure was worth making until she could reliably prove that it was indeed one of the Juinkarr demon-lords who was behind this.

"But how can we be certain this was not an attempt to lead the yellow magus astray?" the Coral-archmagus questioned. But instead of sounding incredulous at the statement, he was, in fact, a little smug. With a sinking heart, Felicity realized that Adarah hadn't hesitated to inform her archmagus about it and that he had, in fact, used that knowledge expertly to lead the gathered councils to this revelation. If the Edict of Setra had failed to get the Circle of Five to act against Merec, than this was his plan B.

"There is no way to be certain without further investigations," Felicity tried to backtrack, but she knew she had to concede the point. "But at this stage, we cannot take the risk."

"Then why not have them eliminated?" the Coral-archmagus grinned victoriously. "Solve two problems at once I would say."

"And how do we know that will even be the best option?" the Amber-archmagus growled, still angry. "It is a very crude solution and one you cannot take back if it turns to have been a mistake. You cannot solve every problem with a sledgehammer!"

"What other options are there?" the Coral-archmagus countered very selfassured. "Either way, you cannot argue that the world would be better off without them!"

"Better for whom, exactly?" the Amber-archmagus snarled. "The commoners of Selebore is speaking very highly about the Lúgroccae and if we are suspected of being involved in the ... elimination of even just one of the pair, the repercussions may be disastrous!"

Suddenly, the Nacre-archmagus interrupted the various arguments with a clearing of his throat. Only, the crude sound the bull made was magically amplified and the room fell into an awkward silence. "I propose," he stated, still using the amplification shape "that these two are forced to come to one of the five Magi Towers, for their own protection of course. But we cannot afford any more delays on this." He turned a serious gaze on Felicity "If you are right about Juinkarr, IF ... you are right, then we cannot allow them to remain at large anymore."

"I still say they had their chance ..." the Coral-archmagus started to argue, but he was interrupted by a snap of magic from the Ivory-archmagus.

"The council has heard your proposals," the bear announced, seeming glad to have a clear agenda for the meeting to follow again. "Are there any other proposals that anyone wishes to nominate?"

There were a few soft murmurs of discussion amongst the various delegations, but no-one had another solution to suggest and an eery silence fell over the room again.

"Very good then," the Ivory-archmagus announced. "We'll put it to vote then."

Felicity stared up at her as if she had sprouted a set of wings. The fate of the world was at stake here and she wanted to put it to the vote?

"As first proposed," the Ivory-archmagus continued, seemingly oblivious to the astounded gaping from the vixen before her. "All in favour that this threat against Selebore is eliminated, please indicate your intention."

The Coral-archmagus was quick to raise his hand. No surprise there, Felicity grumbled to herself. The Corel Tower had always prefered the sledgehammer approach to anything they did not agree with. After a bit of hesitation, the Ivory-archmagus also raised her hand in agreement. Also, no surprise there, Felicity thought. The Ivory Tower always prefered the route that seemed to be the easiest way out. There was a pregnant silence as the bear in charge waited for any of the other archmagi to make their decision.

"And those against?" she finally asked as she and the horse to her right lowered their hands again. The Nacre-archmagus immediately raised his hand, not even waiting for the Ivory-archmagus to complete the question. But to Felicity's utter shock, she noticed that the Amber-archmagus hesitated to cast her vote. For a tense moment, nothing happened, but before the Ivory-archmagus could call the vote she also raised her hand.

"Bloody hippies and do-gooders always sticking together!" one of the Corel representatives grumbled, his voice accidentally carrying across the room and earning the Coral delegation several rotten looks.

"Eroul, your tower has decided to waver your vote?" the Ivory-archmagus asked when the tiger made no move.

"That is correct," the Jet-archmagus confirmed, ignoring he upset grumbling against his choice. It was obvious that his decision was not well received, even among the representatives of his own delegation, but he stood his ground.

"Don't be a fool!" the Coral-archmagus grumbled, but he was hushed with a sharp reprimand by the Ivory-archmagus.

"How so?" the bear asked, herself not very happy with the turn of events.

"We do not know nearly enough of what is going on here!" Eroul replied confidently in his decision to remain out of the vote. "I feel we need to understand this Lúgroccae phenomenon better before even thinking of taking any form of drastic action."

"Understood," the Ivory-archmagus conceded. "The final vote is thus deadlocked at two-to-two. As second proposed, all in favour that the ..." she failed to hide a scowl at the name when she spoke it "... Lúgroccae are forced to present themselves at one of the towers, please indicate your intention."

Again, the Nacre-archmagus immediately reacted with a raised hand, followed shortly by the Jet-archmagus. Again the Amber-archmagus hesitated, but eventually joined her vote with the other two.

"That is a majority vote then," the Ivory-archmagus declared.

"Oh for crying out loud ..." the Coral-archmagus complained, throwing his hands into the air in exasperation but he was quickly hushed by the Ivory-archmagus.

"Enough!" the bear growled dangerously. "The Circle has spoken and you will accept the verdict!" She turned a cold gaze to Felicity, who couldn't help but cringe beneath her attention. "And as the one responsible for this wild magus, you are hereby ordered to bring them in with speed. No more delays, understood? They will present themselves at a tower of their choosing within the month, or face the wrath of the entire Circle of Five.'

"Y-yes, madam" Felicity replied in a small voice.

"And anything they do from here on out will be on your head!" the Ivory-archmagus added. The statement was more to direct any possible blame away from her precious Ivory Tower than to really be of use, but Felicity still felt it as if it was the stabbing of cold steel rather than words.

"Yes madam," she repeated, not looking up again.

Seemingly satisfied, the Ivory-archmagus grinned as she sat back comfortably again. "Very well then, you are dismissed!" she decided, but Felicity didn't budge. She was not going to be leaving this room with the discussion on Juinkarr still undecided.

"Madam, if I may?" she asked in as respectful a tone as she could muster.

"What is it?" the bear growled, not in the mood to be continuing the discussion.

"I ... would like official permission to ..." Felicity cleared her throat nervously "... investigate the rumours of someone being in charge of Juinkarr."

"This again?" the Coral-archmagus snapped angrily, but Felicity did not allow her nervousness to hobble her.

"If I may," she quickly added before she could be reprimanded by the Ivory-archmagus. "As archmagus Eroul has said, we do not know enough of what is going on here except that Juinkarr seems to be involved on some level. It seems only logical, nay I should say it is our duty for due diligence to investigate all leads in this matter." Felicity spoke respectfully, but still hoping not to be shut out again. Though, just add the phrase 'due diligence' in somewhere and the Ivory Tower should be on her side.

"I suppose you are right," the Ivory-archmagus sighed, the magic phrase seemed to have worked. "However, this is a subject that does not affect the Circle as a whole in the present. If your archmagus agrees to it, you may continue with your investigations."

"Master Vicia?" Felicity asked, turning to her archmagus hopefully.

The wolf considered the vixen for an awkward moment, before nodding her approval. "Very well, then. You may proceed with your investigation. But you will come to me with everything you find, even if it may seem unimportant, understand?"

"Yes, madam!" Felicity quickly replied with a grin. "Thank you, madam."

"If that is all, you are dismissed." the Ivory-archmagus repeated and this time, Felicity was quick to accept the dismissal.

"Thank you, High Council!" she greeted them before making her escape through the door she was lead through only ten minutes before. As she exited the Council Hall, she couldn't help but shake her head, utterly stunned and painfully disillusioned. True, she was aware of the rivalries between the magi of the various towers, but she never thought that the animosity between them would even stretch to the Circle of Five themselves. Even now as the door was closing behind her, she could hear the hum that was building up in volume as various voices tried to tell everyone else what a bad idea it was to go through with this on one hand or to avoid making difficult choices on the other.

"Sweet Thelma, help us when Juinkarr does rise again!" she muttered to herself as the doors closed shut behind her.

***

Merec stumbled down the dim hall in sir Harald's house. It was situated in the southern end of the town, right next to the river so luckily it hadn't received any damage during the siege. It was a long day, and he was tired. Today was especially tiring, with the new red draine suddenly showing up out of the blue and complicating matters. And now he had to negotiate and organize space and time for the five or so hopeful trainees who had come to sign up as riders in this new order he seemed to be the head of. A destiny he could no longer avoid.

With a tired sigh, he reached the guest bedroom where he was supposed to be sleeping, but here he hesitated. For a moment he considered the doorknob but then decided to move on further down the hall. Though he was tired, he didn't feel like turning in just yet. Instead, he had something else in mind he wanted to occupy himself with.

After his late father's hunting cabin was completely destroyed by the raiding orcs, he had no other place to call home. Of course, the townspeople were very eager to build him and Gahntuar something in town, but Merec had managed to avoid it, claiming that it was more urgent and responsible to use the aid resources to get the important buildings up first. Though, when asked where he thought he was going to be staying for the time being, his answer of 'With Gahntuar' was not very well received. Eventually, he was convinced to come and stay in his mentor's house until better arrangements could be made.

Not that the people mistrusted the dragon. In fact, Gahntuar had been pressured to move into the town as well and he was staying with Merec in the old captain's home. As it was, he had moved into one of the larger rooms in the house. It had been intended as some kind of drawing-room, with a set of large double doors that looked out over the river. These doors were apparently meant to be used to convert the room into a kind of balcony, but now it worked as a perfect setup for the dragon, giving him easy access to the house from across the river.

Converting it into a dragon's lair was surprisingly easy, requiring the humans to remove what meagre furniture was originally in the room someplace else. Someone had also thought it a good idea to carry in a bale of hay which was distributed in the one corner as makeshift bedding for the dragon. At first, Gahntuar had been less than impressed with the idea, but after trying it out he had become very fond of his bed.

The final result was a space within the town that was large enough for both dragons to sleep in comfortably. However, Lainah still preferred to sleep in the cave she had claimed for herself when she first followed Gahntuar back to the peninsula. At first, Merec wondered if it was the proximity of the other humans that still unnerved her, but after the conversation with her earlier in the day, the human could hazard a more realistic guess as to why she felt awkward sleeping over here.

For obvious reasons, the new draine did not sleep anywhere near the town but instead have taken over Gahntuar's old cave.

Merec reached the door to Gahntuar's room and without a second thought, knocked a few times. There was an affirmative grunt from the other side of the room, which Merec knew meant in dragon culture that he was given permission to enter, and he quickly joined the dragon. Gahntuar was already laying on the hay, his eyes closed as if in sleep. Yet his crest betrayed his curiosity at what the human wanted.

"Are you still awake?" Merec asked as he closed the door behind himself. "Or did I wake you?"

"You did not wake me," Gahntuar rumbled without opening his eyes, but he did open a wing as an invitation for the human to join him in the hay. Merec accepted eagerly and quickly leaned against the side of the scaly chest with a satisfied sigh.

"Something troubling you?" the dragon asked as he folded his wing back down over his human. It wasn't strange for the human to come and lie with him at night ever since the dragon moved into town. Though he had his own more comfortable bed, he seemed to enjoy spending time with the dragon most. It was something the dragon appreciated very much, more than he would have expected.

"This whole Lúgroccae business!" Merec grumbled upset but still tried to make himself more comfortable. "Ever since the siege, everyone just accepted that we are going to become this ... influential order that is going to change the world. Up to now, I could always just dismiss their expectations by saying that we were just one pair, but now that this red draine appeared." He sighed again, before summing up what bothered him. "Now, it has somehow become official, and I can't escape it!"

"You preferred it when we had to sneak around the whole time?" Gahntuar asked with a smirk, finally raising his head to look at his human.

"No!" Merec quickly denied the jovial accusation. "It is just ... I'm not cut out to be a leader."

"I know what you mean," Gahntuar replied suddenly serious. He sighed and turned to look towards the east as if seeing something against the wall which troubled him greatly. "I'm a coward, you know? When Segrien first attacked us, I ran away. He killed my sire and dame and their most recent clutch, and I only escaped because I got a lucky strike to his face. I was terrified, so I just left everything I knew and ran. I did try to get my clutchmates to follow me south, but Laethia had a new mate she didn't want to leave and Jenour was braver than I ever was. So, I simply left on my own.

"Then, when my new home was destroyed by raiding orcs, I ran again. I didn't hesitate, I didn't look back to see if I could help. I just fled again and was only satisfied when I ended up as far away from anything as possible!"

Gahntuar's melancholy was broken with a sudden, delighted purr and he turned to nuzzle at Merec.

"And yet, that is where I met you!" he grinned. "If we hadn't found each other I would still have been that grumpy, lonely drake. So thank you for saving me!" But then his mood fell a bit. "Though, now it feels like I'm trapped here. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to have finally seen the friendly side of the town, but it is just ... I don't know how to put it."

"I know exactly what you mean!" Merec caressed the dragon's jaw affectionately. "At least we are trapped together." They were silent for a moment before Merec suggested with a grin: "We could run again, I guess."

"We could," Gahntuar agreed with a playful nip "but I know we won't. You won't be able to leave with people looking up to us for help." The dragon sighed, looking west as if seeing the town through the walls. "And nor can I, I realize. It is easy to run when no-one is looking, but with people ... and dragons now asking for help, how can I just leave them?"

"You are right!" Merec grinned, knowing full well that his dragon had a point. "Eventually, we must stop running, I guess. And the sooner the better!"

"So we agree to officially become Lúg'hir and Roccan'hir then?" Gahntuar asked with a smirk, leaning down to nuzzle Merec.

"I guess so!" Merec smiled, rubbing the affectionate snout gently.

"It will be a difficult journey," the dragon warned with a heavy breath, not letting up on his nuzzles.

"I know," the human replied, gently pressing his lips to the snout. "But I will have you, and you will have me."

"Together," the dragon agreed, twisting his head slightly to lick at the human's lips. Merec accepted and they kissed in silence for a few minutes. Gahntuar shifted and a familiar scent started to permeate the room.

"It's been too long!" the dragon complained as he shifted his body more comfortably. "When last ...?"

"Not since the siege!" Merec agreed, twisting to start removing his shirt. "Just, try not to wake the town! I don't want to explain ..."

Merec was interrupted by a loud pounding on the door as if someone was trying to break it down. Gahntuar lifted his head away from his human to growl threateningly at the door.

"Whose there?" he snarled, obviously not impressed at the interruption.

"Gahntuar?" a familiar draine spoke up. "It is me, Lainah!"

"Lainah?" Gahntuar replied surprised. "Come in!"

"How?" Lainah grumbled and the door started to rattle again.

"I'll get it!" Merec quickly called before the draine ripped the door from its hinges. Gahntuar grumbled a little annoyed but allowed his human to escape his affectionate embrace to open the bit of wood currently offending the draine outside. A bigger handle that worked by pulling a lever down may have been installed on the door for the dragon's sake, but apparently, the silvery draine had no idea how to operate it yet even though Gahntuar chose to keep the door unlocked when he was home.

Lainah crooned happily as the door opened for her. As she stepped inside, she shot the human a curious glance to see exactly how the lever worked before pushing the door shut herself with a tail. Gahntuar got up to sit on his haunches when she turned back to him and the human noticed for a moment a flash of deep red glistening in the low light before the drake retracted his erection again to be more presentable. For that moment, Merec wondered if Gahntuar displayed himself on purpose to let the draine know what she had interrupted, or if it was indeed an accidental slip.

"Lainah?" Gahntuar greeted, his voice a little bit tight with formality. "I thought you've retired back to that cave of yours for the night. Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine, don't worry!" Lainah crooned, also sitting down and giving the drake's groin a momentarily but meaningful stare. Obviously, she had noticed his excitement or had smelled it on the air. Then, she smirked broadly and looked up at his eyes before she spoke again. "Better than fine, in fact. I've already managed to talk to Merec about it and I came to speak to you as well."

Though he had expected it when Lainah had first announced herself, Merec still coughed a little awkwardly. "I'll leave the two of you alone then," he conceded with a smirk and turned to leave. He and Gahntuar had been on the verge of something and he wouldn't mind to stay and watch, but he didn't want to get in between the two dragons on this special moment. Yet, he had barely walked a single step, when Lainah wrapped her wing around his shoulders and with a yelp from the human, pulled him closer to her. When the human dared to protest, she only tightened her wing around him.

"What is this about?" Gahntuar asked, now completely confused. After Segrien's death, Lainah had become a lot more playful and social, yet she still kept to herself a lot of the time and tried to make as little direct contact with the humans as possible. Except for the humans' whelps, that is, who she allowed to climb all over her from time to time. This behaviour seemed completely out of character for her.

Still refusing to let the human go, Lainah shyly looked away from the drake as she spoke.

"Well, er ... Shortly after we came to this town," she started awkwardly "you asked me if we could be friends. Remember?"

"I remember," Gahntuar agreed, remembering the painful few days he had nearly thrown his friendship with Merec away over a silly argument. Then, with a smirk, he continued in a joking tone meant to ease whatever concerned the draine. "If I remember correctly, you said you'll never be interested in a mounting from me!"

That comment had the complete opposite effect. Lainah lowered her head a little ashamed and Gahntuar immediately started to apologize. It did, however, make the human stop his squirming, which was something at least.

"No, I ... I'm sorry about that!" the draine quickly interrupted the drake's apology. "You have always been supportive and patient and kind to me, even helping me prepare to fulfil my ..." she snarled at the word as if it tasted bitter on her tongue "... vengeance!" Then she looked up again to stare into his eyes with her own sad expression. "And despite that, I was always rude to you and always kept my distance, never letting you come close to my heart."

"You've already thanked me for the support ..." Gahntuar reminded her, getting up to nuzzle her affectionately. "And you have also apologized to me, several times in fact. But as the humans say, that is water already passed under the bridge."

When the draine didn't seem to understand, he elaborated the saying quickly.

"It is best left forgotten!" he smiled. But then his hatchling nature got the better of him again and hoping to lift the mood again, he continued with a playful nip at her flank. "Or are you trying to tell me you want me to mount you?"

That seemed to work this time around and Lainah glanced away, her ears bright red but her crest raised in interest.

"Actually, I was ... hoping for more than that!" she admitted, finding the unadorned wall suddenly very interesting.

"More?" Gahntuar purred interested, nuzzling her neck to get her to look at him again.

"I want to be your mate properly ..." the draine stated firmly, turning her head to momentarily look Gahntuar in the eyes. "I ... I want you to be the sire of my next clutch." As she spoke, she leaned into his chest and started to rub her snout against the soft scales of his neck. It was a very intimate caress and Gahntuar stared down at her in complete surprise, before with a deep purr he started licking her crest in acceptance.

"I would be honoured to seed your eggs!" Gahntuar rumbled, his mind racing with delight and he found thoughts to be hard to grasp. Lainah looked up at him again and for a timeless moment, they just stared into each other's eyes. Finally, Gahntuar moved to lick her across the snout and when Lainah acted in kind, their tongues brushed up against one another. Moaning delightedly, they kissed passionately, the world around them forgotten. That is until the sharp tang of Gahntuar's arousal reappeared again as he once more lost control of his erection.

"You want to mount me?" Lainah asked huskily as she broke the kiss.

"I ... yes, I do!" Gahntuar chirped excitedly. Lainah purred eagerly and standing up, turned around to present herself to the eager drake. With the movement, Merec managed to wriggle free and make his escape. The two dragons had become so wrapped up with each other that they had completely forgotten about the human with them.

"I should be going ..." Merec muttered, pointing across his shoulder at the door leading deeper into the house. Lainah whined a little, but whether it was in response to him or to urge the drake on already, he wasn't entirely sure. Gahntuar on the other hand only smirked when he noticed the human sneak a peek at his exposed dick despite threatening to leave.

"Why?" the drake asked with a lusty purr, pressing his snout beneath the white tail and lifting it out of the way. "You've seen my dick, touched my dick ... you've even..." he paused to emphasise the statement with a lick at Lainah's nether lips "... licked my dick!"

The drake licked at the offered lips again before pressing his tongue firmly against them to slip a little inside. Lainah gasped delighted and hiked her hips higher to give her new mate's muzzle easier access.

"Sex is a ... a private affair between humans," Merec tried to explain, but found his mouth was awkwardly dry. Still, he made no move to look away from where the drake was eating his draine out with firm strokes.

"Not to dragons!" Gahntuar commented with a smirk when he finally retrieved his tongue again. "Why so shy all of a sudden?"

"I'll join you guys next time? I just, don't really know Lainah that well, I guess. " Merec answered, feeling his reply might be a little lame for the dragon. Which was indeed the case.

"Then, come get to know her better!" Gahntuar smirked, twisting his tail around Merec's back and pulling him a little closer again. "I would prefer if you stayed."

"I ... would also prefer if you stayed!" Lainah managed to ask when her crest suddenly shot up in shock at a sudden thought. She rose her chest a little higher to twist around and look at the human, much to the drake's annoyance. "Or are you not attracted to females?" she quickly asked, a little worry colouring her voice.

"No, he doesn't mind females!" Gahntuar rumbled, nipping at her flank to get her back into position. She complied with a relieved sigh and Gahntuar added with a smirk. "Not the way he looks at the leather-smith who is creating our saddles."

"There is nothing going on between me and Lesley!" Merec gasped shocked, but still, he felt his face turn a little hotter.

"Of course," the dragon conceded in a tone that indicated that he did not believe the statement one bit. With a smirk directed at the human, he added: "Don't worry, I promise I won't scare her off when the two of you decide to breed."

"We are not going to be having children!" Merec insisted, much to both the dragons' delight.

"And I'm never going to mount Lainah, here!" Gahntuar insisted, before with a quick jerk of his chest he mounted the draine in question with an excited trill.

"Thought you were never going to get to it!" Lainah growled in mock irritation but eagerly twisted her tail around Gahntuar's stifle joint to curl it around his own tail in a possessive grip. This action not only exposed her gender to his completely but indicated her desire for him.

"Patience has made this moment all the sweeter!" the drake grinned as he started to nibble at the hard scales on the back of her neck. His hind legs danced a little around as he shuffled forward until the sharp tip of his penis touched her rump. Lainah whined needily, but Gahntuar held back for a moment. He glanced mischievously at Merec, who was still standing there right next to him. "Would you mind giving me a hand?"

"Me?" Merec asked shocked, completely taken aback by the request.

"Can't you get in yourself?" Lainah asked with a smirk, but the tightness in her voice betrayed that she was getting impatient.

"I can if I try," Gahntuar grinned down at her as he hugged her tighter. "But I want Merec to be part of this."

"You are impossible!" Merec sighed, though he also failed to hide a grin of his own. Quickly, he took the last step to where the haunches of the two dragons met. Hesitating one last time, he reached in between them and gently grabbed hold of Gahntuar's penis. The drake growled with delight as he felt the human hands on his flesh and had to clench his jaws to remain in control of himself as he allowed the human to guide him forward. It had been more than a decade since he had last mated with one of his own kind and for as sexually active a species as dragons were, that was a very cruel form of torture.

When Merec pressed the sharp glans home, Gahntuar groaned in delight as he felt his tip sink into the warm flesh. That feeling was too much and the dragon lost control of himself. With a hard shove, he drove his hips forward, sinking in all the way to his knot and nearly trapping Merec's hand between the two scaly haunches. Lainah moaned lustfully and Gahntuar snarled with delight as he pulled back and gave another strong and deep thrust forward.

Almost immediately, Gahntuar fell into a comfortable rhythm and the room was filled with delighted huffs and growls Merec was sure could be heard a few houses away. The human stepped a little clear of the two rutting dragons. Though his face was a deep red by now, he found he couldn't look away from his friend mating with unrestricted abandon. In fact, he was shocked and surprised at the raw strength and power the drake was putting into his movements. In a sudden flash of realization, he came to understand how much self-control Gahntuar had always maintained when the drake was with him, to keep his mating movements gentle for his sake. The thought made his heart swell even as he watched them go at each other.

After what seemed like barely a minute or two, Gahntuar reached down to bite firmly at Lainah's neck, making the draine whine loudly in need. Then she gave a sharp yelp of a roar when Gahntuar pushed forward one last time and his knot popped inside. Still biting at her neck possessively, Gahntuar whined exulted as he came into her body. The two dragons remained still for a wonderful, endless moment, just huffing from the exertion. Gahntuar was the first to recover a bit, letting go of the firm grip of his jaws before silently licking the spot he had bitten with affectionate care. There was, of course, no damage to her neck but the gentle caress was welcoming either way.

"Wow!" Lainah gasped, her legs feeling a little shaky after the powerful sex. "That ... that was amazing!"

"That was something!" Merec agreed, too awed to think of anything else to say. When the human spoke, it was as if the drake remembered his presence again and he pulled the smaller creature in against his haunch with a quick flick of his wing. However, other than that, he made no other moves.

"Are ... are you going to stay up there?" Lainah asked surprised, having recovered a little.

"But I like it up here!" Gahntuar replied with a mischievous grin. He hugged her more firmly to his groin and without another word, started to resume his nibbling at her neck and shoulders.

"Your human is correct!" Lainah decided with a huff. "You are impossible! How did your previous mates take this?"

"They usually just crouched down," Gahntuar purred delightedly. "Then I kind of sit over them until my knot gives out."

Immediately, Lainah followed Gahntuar's suggestion. As the two dragons settled down more comfortably again, they resumed their affectionate nibbles and licking in silence. Then suddenly, Lainah seemed to recall the third member of their party.

"So," she asked as she turned around to glance at Merec with a knowing smirk. The human was still trapped by the drake's wing, but somehow she could tell that he was aroused by the sight as well. "What did you think, Merec?"

"I ... er, well," Merec swallowed and tried to lick his lips wet again. Having been addressed directly, he found his blush returning in full force but he forced himself to keep his gaze on the draine's face as he tried to answer her question. "It was amazing. I ... I never knew dragons could be so ... passionate ..."

"I'll break him if I give over like this with him!" Gahntuar commented between licks.

"Makes sense," Lainah hummed, still smiling with post-sexual euphoria.

"So, when will the two of you be having a clutch then?" Merec asked, more to fill in the silence that was starting to bother him a bit.

Lainah replied with a light, carefree laugh. "I'm not in heat at the moment!" she started to explain.

"I know," Merec interrupted her. "I just meant, when will you be in heat again?"

"Oh," Lainah smirked. "That will not be for another three years or so." There was a hint of a little sadness to her voice, but the draine was still unable to let the smile drop from her face.

"But we can wait!" Gahntuar rumbled with a happy trill to his voice. "We won't leave you, will we?"

The last part was meant for Merec and he answered before he could really comprehend the question. "No, we won't!"

Lainah trilled with delight but then gasped with surprise as Gahntuar shifted over her.

"I'm coming out!" he announced as he let his human free again. Not waiting for anyone to acknowledge him, he stood up and pulled his penis from her with a wet slop. Now free, he stepped off Lainah, who was still crouching down.

Gahntuar turned to Merec with that grin the human had learned to be wary of.

"Will you please clean me up?" the drake asked with a seductive purr.

"Um ... sure," Merec replied a little unsurely. But as he turned to leave in search of a soft enough towel, Gahntuar called him back with a clearing of his throat. When the human frowned at him questioningly, the drake only raised his hindleg slightly to display his still dripping shaft to the human.

"Oh, you mean ..." Merec gasped, suddenly blushing profusely again. Gahntuar only nodded, rumbling in approval when Merec stepped obediently closer.

As the human crouched, the dragon lifted his raised leg higher to give the human better access. Carefully, the smaller creature reached in beneath the scaly stomach and pulling the softening flesh towards him, he started to lick it clean for his friend. Lainah watch in utter fascination. Though she had never actually seen the two of them together sexually, she was well aware that they were active mates and that the human has already consumed the dragon's semen on several occasions. But seeing it now first hand was something of an eye-opener to her. And though she was sure she wouldn't have been appalled by it, it still shocked her how much seeing it was driving her desires higher again.

"My turn!" she practically ordered the human with a lustful chirp as soon as Gahntuar's penis had shrunk back into its slit. She nearly stumbled in her haste to get up and presented herself with a raised tail to the human. Merec stared wide-eyed at the display, his mind blank until a firm shove of a snout in the small of his back urged him forward.

"Go on!" Gahntuar grinned with an eager glint in his eyes.

Merec nervously reached forward and started licking her clean as well. To his surprise, she moaned as he made contact and curled her tail around his back as if to keep him in position. Emboldened, Merec tried to press his tongue inside her like he had seen Gahntuar do, earning a delighted rumble from the draine even though he couldn't reach very deeply. To his own surprise, he found the situation enjoyable and with soft moans of his own, he continued to lick at her silky folds even when the familiar taste of the drake had gone.

"Alright, enough of that!" Lainah suddenly snapped overeagerly. She stepped away from him a bit before spreading her hind legs and lowering her chest to the ground. With her tail raised over her back invitingly, she peeked over her shoulder at the human. "I want you to mate me as well!"

"You ... what?" Merec gasped, shocked. True, after her comment about wanting to see what Gahntuar found appealing about him, he had suspected that this would one day happen. He definitely did not expect it to be the very same day!

"I know you are not equipped quite like Gahntuar," the draine growled, impatiently curling her tail around his shoulders "but I still want to feel you cum inside me as well."

"I ..." Merec hesitated, glancing worriedly at the drake in the hopes that his friend would help him out here. Being present while his friend mated with his draine was one thing, but actually mounting and cumming inside her only moments after the drake was another. How could the drake be comfortable with this?

"I think you are a bit high for him," Gahntuar commented dryly, coming to his human's aid.

"Oh, right," Lainah sighed, letting the human go and hanging her head in disappointment as she stood up straight again. Merec started to step away with a sigh, not sure if he was relieved or disappointed. But then the drake betrayed him, nosing him back to the draine with a lusty rumble.

"Don't worry," he grinned at the draine as he blocked the human's retreat. "We've done this before, so I have an idea of what would work. First, you need to roll over..."

"Roll over?" Lainah asked surprised as she glanced at the drake. "Why? That doesn't make any sense, whatsoever!"

Still, she followed Gahntuar's suggestion. Folding her wings tightly against herself, she crouched and rolled over onto her back in a rather, inelegant movement. The new pose was rather strange to her, reminding her more of her days as a whelp wrestling with her clutchmates than anything sexual. She glanced back over her upraised chest at the two males who were gawking at her. With a shock, she noticed that with her legs hanging wide apart as they were, she was completely exposed to their gaze. Maybe even more than she had ever been before. With a seductive purr, she grinned at the males, eager to see how this strange arrangement was going to help Merec mate her.

The sound seemed to have snapped Gahntuar from his stupor and he returned her grin.

"Fun fact!" the drake announced with a chuckle, stepping up close behind the human to place a paw on his shoulder. "Humans mate facing each other. I haven't seen it myself, but Merec showed me how, long ago when he first assumed the male role."

Merec only realised he was gawking when he heard the chuckle behind him and felt a paw gently curl around his shoulder.

"You need to be undressed for this, you know!" the dragon grinned toothily at him, the black snout appearing next to the human's face.

"R-right ..." Merec muttered shyly, suddenly very aware of Lainah's undivided attention. As he started to remove the light undergarment he had intended to sleep in, he was acutely aware that this was the first time the draine would see what a naked human looked like.

Lainah's encouraging purr increased in volume as Merec's exposed chest came into view, making the human blush profusely. But before he could put the shirt aside, Gahntuar grabbed it from him and with a theatrical toss of his head, sent it flying across the room and out of reach. And when the human was too slow in removing his pants, the drake started to nibble on them himself. The pants joined the shirt on the other side of the room in quick order, and Lainah stared wide-eyed at the erect human before her. She had not been sure what to expect, but this was nothing like it.

"Come!" Gahntuar interrupted the moment as he nosed Merec forward towards the awaiting draine. "It is time to confirm your role as our mate!"

Mind in a complete haze, Merec allowed himself to be herded forward by the eager drake. The human carefully stepped over the quivering white tail to straddle the limb at its wide base. The snout only disappeared from Merec's back when he was in position between Lainah's back legs which she somehow managed to spread even wider for the pair of males. But to the human's surprise, Gahntuar continued to move forward, actually mounting Lainah where she lay as if he was the one about to mate her in the missionary style. As such, the drake quickly leaned in over Merec to press the scaly chest against the human's back and so to trap him firmly between their warm bodies.

Merec was knocked onto Lainah's stomach and to his continued surprise, he found himself nestled rather comfortably between both of the two larger reptiles' stomachs. The human was suddenly acutely aware that Gahntuar's erection was rock hard again as it was poking him firmly in the small of his back. However, this did not trouble Merec in the least. He has been the drake's mate for several years now after all, and indeed he found the slick presence somewhat comforting. It was good to feel the intimate contact of the dragon whose new mate he was about to have sex with.

With that thought, Merec was suddenly very aware of the situation he found himself in. But with his friend hovering over him, there was no getting out of this. Yet, now that he was here, he realised that he actually wanted to see this through. And not just for the dragons' cultural sake.

"This is most definitely different!" Lainah commented with an interested croon as she nuzzled up at Gahntuar's face, which was conveniently within reach for her.

"Ever since I first heard that mating could be done this way, I wanted to try it out myself with a draine," Gahntuar admitted, returning Lainah's nuzzles.

"With me in-between?" Merec managed to ask, making both dragons grin.

"No, that is a bonus!" Gahntuar admitted. Then with a sharp thrust of his hips in imitation of mating, the drake rubbed his penis across Merec's back. "Now! Mount your dragon, Roccan'hir!"

At that command, Lainah whined with anticipation. Merec shifted to get into a better position, but it turned out to be rather difficult since Gahntuar was pressing him firmly into Lainah's stomach. Luckily, the drake realised what the issue was and quickly relaxed the pressure slightly, allowing Merec the opportunity to reach back and realign himself.

Lainah whined in ecstasy as the bulbous head of Merec's penis pressed in between her folds. Her tail writhed between the human's legs before it finally found the drake's own and the female's appendage curled possessively around the male's. For his part, Merec gasped surprised at how hot she was, much more than Gahntuar's penis had ever felt inside him to be sure. And how smooth and wet.

Eagerly and with all uncertainty gone, Merec gave in and pushed into her with all of his strength, safe in the knowledge that his penis was much smaller than Gahntuar's and he knew the draine could take it. As he slid deeper, he couldn't help groan in satisfaction. But then he gasped surprised when the consistency of her natural lubricant suddenly changed deep within her. As the human bottomed out, he suddenly realised that what he was feeling was Gahntuar's own load inside her. For a moment, he wasn't sure what to think, but he shook the strange thought from his mind. He had often drunk it willingly straight from the source, so why should it matter? And wasn't this the whole idea of their tryst now: To be mixing seed inside her?

With himself all the way inside, he held his position for a moment, glancing up to see the two dragons were too busy with each other to have noticed his surprised grunt. Lainah had her eyes closed and was clawing eagerly at the scales of Gahntuar's shoulders while he was licking at the soft scales of her jaw. Though the draine seemed to be almost hyperactive with ecstasy, Merec was still not sure how he was to bring Lainah to orgasm. His dick was after all nowhere near comparable with Gahntuar's. Still, she seemed satisfied enough with his presence inside her alone, so he decided to oblige the dragons. He started to roll his hips and to his surprise, Lainah hissed with delight and the walls around him clamped tightly for a moment. Her eyes shot open and she glanced down across her chest at the human.

Grinning when he saw the glint of feral excitement in her eyes, the human pushed in again. The draine moaned lustfully as he fell into a comfortable rhythm, never taking her eyes off him. Emboldened by her delightful moans, he continued his thrusts, quickly realising that he needed to focus on her clitoris. He was so focused on rubbing his penis against it with each stroke that he nearly stopped when he felt the tip of Gahntuar's penis slid backwards as the drake shifted over him. He did stop when the dragon's dick plopped down heavily between his own legs, suddenly wondering if the drake intended to penetrate him while he was balls deep in the draine. But then the dick moved even lower again.

Lainah's eyes suddenly flashed with shock and she glared up at Gahntuar as the drake found his true target. She snapped up at him with a snarl as he started to press into her. Merec felt her legs kick a bit, but since they reached harmlessly around Gahntuar's hips, the claws caught on nothing. With a smirk, the human realised that this was most likely her first time receiving a dick anally, but her mind was too clouded with lust and passion to do anything more than complain weakly.

The human continued his thrusts at his own pace, and the drake quickly fell in behind him, matching his own thrusts with the human's rhythm. Gahntuar growled lustfully as he rutted the draine, and she could only wine needy, her mind completely muddled with the ecstasy of the moment. Yet, with Merec in the way Gahntuar could not get the angle nor the range right to tie with her. But the drake didn't mind. His dick was planted deep enough within his new mate to be satisfying, and the thought that his closest friend was rutting her like he could actually contribute towards a clutch only intensified the moment.

Together, the two males were too much for the draine. With a delighted snarl, she stiffened beneath them as her orgasm hit. Her sudden clenching turned out to be too much for Merec and with a whimper, he gave a final push and exploded within her, his seed mixing with that of his best friend. And having just ejaculated himself, Gahntuar also lasted barely a few more sharp thrusts himself inside the quivering rectum before he joined the other two in orgasm. They remained like that for a long time, only the laboured gasps of a job well done breaking the silence. During this time, the two males did not even think to extract themselves, just staying plunged inside the draine as they enjoyed each other's euphoric spasms in a blissful afterglow.

It must have been well over two minutes before Merec became aware enough of his surroundings to notice that Gahntuar was licking his back affectionately. His mind still very much muddled with afterglow bliss, the human realised he had become soft inside Lainah, but when he moved to extract himself he found that he was still completely trapped by Gahntuar's haunches still pushing him to the draine.

"Gahnt?" Merec mumbled, hoping the drake would get off, but the silly reptile only increased the pressure on the human's lower back. Obviously, the drake intended to have the human remain inside to imitate being knotted to the female. Merec wasn't sure if that was going to work at all, but he was proven wrong when Lainah's walls gave him a sudden, firm squeeze and she crooned with overwhelming gratitude. A croon that Gahntuar answered in kind, making the human chuckle.

"That was ... unexpected!" Lainah commented suddenly, sounding a little dreamy. She looked down at Merec with adoring eyes. "But absolutely amazing! I can see why Gahntuar chose to stay with you!"

"He is definitely a keeper!" Gahntuar agreed with a delighted croon, nuzzling Lainah. With a lick at her snout, he added eagerly: "As are you! I promise I will be there for you until our hatchlings are ready to find their own way in the world."

Lainah's eyes flashed with joy and she reached up to lock her muzzle with Gahntuar's in a short but passionate kiss.

"I also promise I will be there for you until our hatchlings are ready to find their own way in the world!" she agreed when she broke away. "For you both!"

"As will I," Merec agreed from between them "for as long as you'll have me!"

"Thank you!" Gahntuar crooned, raising himself up a bit to nuzzle at Merec in affection. "You have no idea how much this means to me!"

"To us!" Lainah agreed, also nuzzling Merec and stealing a quick lick at his mouth before the drake settled down comfortably again.

And still lying there in a tangled heap, the three of them drifted off to sleep, Merec still securely between the two dragons.

***

Lekreh yawned, the warm morning sun easing his nerves and making him dangerously lazy. He sat comfortably on his haunches outside the large shop, watching the passing crowd of buyers that never seemed to thin out as he waited for Glenn and Harald to finalize the last of the preparations for their trip to the north. Of course, he could have joined them on their shopping spree. Lorthen was after all nearly in the spine itself and had a lot of gryphons doing business here, therefore all the buildings were designed with their larger tetrapod forms in mind. In fact, the shop owner herself was a relatively old gryphon hen. He just didn't want to be inside at the moment. The prospect of a relatively long trip ahead of them had the golden gryph a bit antsy and eager to get underway.

That is if the comforting heat of the sun wasn't going to put him to sleep first. He really hoped he didn't have to go inside to find the two humans, but if they were going to take much longer he might just be forced to do so.

Grumbling to himself, he got up onto all fours momentarily to shake himself and pace a bit, fidgeting with his brand new saddle again as he sat down once more. The way the straps of the saddle hugged his chest was actually a comfortable reminder of the years gone by, but it was also a strange sensation he knew he would have to get used to again. Not that he minded. In fact, he was quite eager to get into the air with his mate ... er, his rider again. It had been too long since they had ridden the currents of the winds together. But that was also what worried him: Carrying the two humans the long distance north was more than a little bit concerning to him. True, in the days he was with the Thendorian army, he was expected to fly large distances with Glenn all the time. And usually, they had to carry some heavy equipment or even someone else, but then he had been fit enough to do so. Could he do it now?

But then again, this was his own fault. Sir Harald had actually considered they would complete the journey on foot, but the gryphon had insisted on carrying them. At least for short distances, that is. If they were going to be training these Lúgroccae, he needed to get into shape again and quickly. So he was planning on using this opportunity to work his flight muscles out a bit, resting next to the road if he needed to. After all, they were not in a hurry.

He suppressed another yawn and clacked his beak annoyed as he looked back at the entrance to the shop. Truth be told, he was excited to be getting back into some kind of military role again. But for some small, unknown order not affiliated in any way with the throne? He wasn't exactly sure what to think about this turn of events.

"And the saddle?" The sudden voice startled him from his inner musing and with a high-pitched yelp, he spun around in surprise to glare at the nearly black gryphon smirking at him.

"Sethe!" Lekreh gasped a little annoyed. "How ... how have you been?"

Sethe was an old acquaintance of his from his time in the academy, and one he didn't really fancy meeting up with again. He had never liked the darker gryphon very much, yet by the way the other gryphon had followed him around, he suspected that the feeling wasn't mutual. They had been set up as wingmates when they were still fresh recruits, but that was about all that they had in common. Whereas Lekreh had come from a proud lineage of gryphon fighters and was eager to prove himself, Sethe was lazy and tried to get by with as little effort as possible. He liked to gossip and spy on people, often using the information he gained to threaten people into doing what he wanted. Lekreh was certain that Sethe had hoped his status as Lekreh's wingmate would be enough to graduate from the academy. However, the dark gryphon eventually dropped out of training himself when the training became too strenuous. He hadn't even been assigned a rider in training yet, a particularly humiliating dismissal for any serious young recruit.

Not that Sethe had ever been very serious about anything. That is until he had somehow gotten himself into the Alliance of Light. More likely the Alliance was desperate for gryphon support, but either way, it seems to have had a positive influence on the lazy gryphon. When Sethe had approached Lekreh some months ago, the golden gryphon had to admit, something seemed different in the other gryph. Instead of the poorly kept gryph Lekreh remembered, Sethe's feathers were neatly maintained and it seems that he has kept himself in good shape for a change. Only, his aloof mannerism was still very much the same from way back when the annoying gryph had followed him around everywhere, and he just knew that deep down the gryphon in front of him hadn't really changed at all.

"Good thanks, and you?" Sethe replied for formality sake, equally uninterested in how the golden gryphon was actually doing. Then there was a sudden, dangerous glint in his eyes as he regarded Lekreh's saddle with a sudden genuine interest that Lekreh knew couldn't be good.

"Getting back into shape?" he asked interested. "I hope you have considered my proposal?"

"Just going on a trip with a friend," Lekreh replied, trying to sound nonchalant about it.

"That 'special' friend of yours?" Sethe asked with a grin. "Aren't you two barred from seeing each other anymore?" He gave a dangerous chuckle as Lekreh could only glare at him. "Honestly, I don't care what you do with whom."

"Are you here again to try and convince me to join the Alliance?" Lekreh grumbled. How the darker gryphon had come by the details of his court-martial, he wasn't sure. Last time they had met, he had not shown any indication that he knew. But now it seemed he did and was aware of it, and worse still, that he and Glenn were still seeing each other. Knowledge like that in the claws of a creature like him could never be good.

"Well, I don't know if you had heard," Sethe started, self confidently starting to preen his feathers "but ever since the Spine was called up to fight off the invasion last month, our fellow gryphons have finally started taking the Alliance of Light seriously. The bad news, of course, is that they are all youngsters barely out of the nest. Those with any military experience prefer to remain loyal to the throne ..."

"You make it sound as if the Alliance and the throne are mutually exclusive!" Lekreh quickly jumped on the slipup. There was no real evidence that the authority of the Alliance considered itself above that of the throne, but regular comments like that had always rubbed Lekreh the wrong way. Small hints that suggested that they and they alone knew how to rule the entire Selebore with honour and justice.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Sethe snapped back, sounding a little annoyed. "What I tried to say is that the young ones could learn much from you. We really need someone with your skills!"

"The Commission of Light won't agree with you there, and you know it!" Lekreh challenged him, using his veiled threat of before against him. "' Challenging the Great Ladder of Being by mating my rider' they would say!"

"They also put high regard on abstinence ... yet it is a poorly kept secret that many of them frequent the bars in their off time!" Sethe countered. "Fucking hell, even the High Commissioner himself has an affair with the king's mistress of all people." The darker gryphon suddenly smirked and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially to Lekreh. "You know, rumour has it that it was actually she who convinced him to re-establish the Alliance of Light again all those years ago!"

"Yeah-yeah ..." Lekreh backed away from the other gryphon, unimpressed. "You told me of the True High Commissioner before!"

"Exactly," Sethe proclaimed triumphantly. "So you and your ... rider don't have to worry about joining us. And I'm sure we'll be able to pull a few strings if you are worried about being seen together in Lendor. Just, don't go fucking each other when you are supposed to be on duty again, right." Sethe suddenly sighed and visibly forced himself to relax a bit. Obviously, this tactic wasn't working the way he had hoped, so he tried a new approach.

"Look," he started, looking Lekreh in the eyes with as serious an expression as he could apparently muster. "I know being dismissed from the army as you were was devastating on you. The honour of upholding the family tradition was all you ever talked about in the academy and this way you can live up to your heritage again. Maybe achieve even greater deeds, with everything that is going on." Sethe smiled that dangerous smile of his again. "Tell you what, go north as you planned and go see for yourself that the disgraceful rumours of Dragonriders are true!"

"How did you ...?" Lekreh gasped before he could catch himself.

"Come on, it wasn't that hard to figure out!" Sethe smirked victoriously. "You've stayed here, seemingly content not to challenge your lot in life for how long? And now suddenly with the strange rumours from the north, you and your rider has decided to travel abroad. It shouldn't be too much of a stretch of the imagination to realize that you two are going to investigate it for yourself. I know I would have done exactly that, even if I wasn't part of the Alliance.

"So let me tell you now, they are real!" he declared vehemently. "And when you've confirmed the rumours for yourself, you let me know and I'll inform my superiors that you'll be joining us. There isn't any time to lose!"

"Why the hurry?" Lekreh asked surprised.

"Do you really have to ask?" Sethe asked incredulously. "These dragons on the continent prove that the High Commissioner has always been right: Juinkarr is waking up. There is much that needs to be done across the whole of Selebore before the Dark Fortress is ready to strike. At least we don't have to worry about our resident dragons for long ..."

"What do you mean?" Lekreh gasped shocked, suddenly very worried.

Sethe clicked his beak annoyed with himself. But then his nature got the better of him and he leaned in to share the secret. "Apparently, it has come to the High Commissioner's attention that the Dragonriders are going to be travelling south to Lendor."

"Why would they want to do that?" Lekreh scoffed, not revealing that he knew they would be doing anything but that.

Sethe glanced around quickly to make sure he wasn't overheard. "You didn't hear it from me," he continued in a soft whisper "but rumour has it that the king has summoned them to appear before the court to swear fealty to him. Already he has sent four gryphons north to ... 'accompany' them south. That," Sethe hissed angrily as he stood back to a more comfortable distance again "we can never allow ... the damage they can do if given a free pass into the capital ..." The darker gryphon shivered visibly at the thought of dragons having free access to the capital and especially the court.

"So the higher-ups are planning to ambush those shadow-friends on the Evorn river!" Sethe finally concluded. "You know, protocol demands that the gryphon-knights will have to check in with each river-fort before they cross into a new province. Evorn fort has that stupid blind spot for aerial approaches from the north, so that makes it especially valuable for us to attack them before they can reach the safety of the fort. That will be our best chance to strike. There are contingency plans of course, but this is the one I know of. The others are kept rather hush-hush as you can expect."

"If the king has summoned them, who do you think you are to go against his word?" Lekreh hissed, not impressed with the sudden audacity of the Alliance. He had always thought they considered themselves above the word of the king, but here was tangible proof of it.

"The king isn't thinking clearly about this!" Sethe scoff, somehow failing to notice the raising incredulity of the other gryphon. "I have it on good authority that he has ordered surveillance be carried out on Lamthorre's defences. He is only thinking of the strength these dragons, who are supposedly loyal to humans, can offer him! It looks like the power on offer has already gone to his head!"

"I don't believe it!" Lekreh gasped, shocked. "King Loburt has always considered his secure foreign affairs his most valuable asset. He will never do anything that may even resemble threatening to anyone on the continent. I remember that, years ago, the elves had to practically threaten him with pulling out of their trade deals with us before he eventually sent forces to help them secure Serephal when the orcs destroyed Eydelvise Palace."

"Well, someone changed his mind!" Sethe commented with a sneer. "Just more proof that the shadows are stirring in Juinkarr! And it seems they are coming for us first!"

A sudden noise started them and Sethe looked past Lekreh's head for a moment. Lekreh turned and with no small relief saw that it was Glenn who finally exited the building.

"I said we will go have a look!" she was saying to the man behind her. The darker gryphon ignored her, returning his focus to Lekreh.

"You will consider what we talked about at least?" he asked as he got up to leave.

"Sure!" Lekreh agreed. "It is kind of hard to ignore!"

"Good," Sethe smirked. "Just don't take too long before letting me know!" The darker gryphon left them, turning to give Glen a quick courteous nod. Somehow, it seemed that he didn't recognize Harald at all. Then again, he would never have met him anyway, so it was not that much of a surprise.

"Him again?" Glenn asked, glancing after the dark gryphon as the creature took to the sky. "What was that about?"

"Troublesome news!" Lekreh grumbled. "I hope you are done, we need to get going immediately!"

"Why the sudden rush?" sir Harald asked surprised.

"We may have much less time than you think!" Lekreh said worriedly. "Get on, I'll explain on the way."

***

Amaren sat on the hill, overlooking the small town nestled in a slight bend of the river. He was close enough to the human settlement to be able to smell the scent of wood being sawed as the creatures worked tirelessly to rebuild their homes. But at least he was hidden within the line of trees, obscuring their view of him with their strange, needle-like leaves. It was fascinating to watch them work and to see the buildings slowly develop, but even so every fibre of his being screamed at him to turn around and flee, to escape this deathtrap he had willingly entered. He had never been this close to so many of the civil species and his heart threatened to burst from his chest.

The rumours of the battle and the town being badly damaged by fire was obviously confirmed, but instead of being comforting it only seemed to twist his nerves even tighter. However, they had seen a red draine in passing earlier that morning as she walked unafraid up to the humans and disappeared through an opening in the great stone wall, one that seemed to have been created by design and had two flaps of heavy metal meant to close it to anyone not welcome. That at least gave them enough hope that this might not have been as bad an idea as it now seemed.

But even now, with his nerves so close to their breaking point that he was worried he might lose control of his bladder, the thought of the mud-pit they had called home for the past four months terrified him more. So, taking a deep breath, he concentrated on that spark of determination to see this through somewhere deep inside his soul. They had to at least meet with this black drake and he will not be swayed from ...

The dark green drake gave a terrified yelp as Tembarah nipped at his flank.

"Well, are you going to announce us, or not?" she asked, trying to make fun of the male's nerves in an obvious attempt to hide her own worries.

"I-I will," Amaren whimpered, nervously rubbing his wingthumb at the spot Tembarah had nipped even though her teeth didn't even make contact with his scales. "It's just ... don't you think it is still a little early?"

He gave a very poignant stare at the sun which was still hanging low over the eastern horizon.

"Everyone's awake already!" Tembarah commented, also looking at the sun. Then she turned to the male with a forced smirk. "Nervous?"

"Aren't you intimidated?" the drake asked incredulously. "You know what they say about him!"

"A large, black drake who can fight off three dragons at once!" Tembarah repeated the stories they had heard with a nervous gulp as she regarded the town as well. "He has a loyal human he carries around everywhere, who helps him fight and protects his back from attacks. He is wise enough to have secured an alliance with the humans of all things and as we can see, he has managed to beat back the attack here." She returned her attention back to the male, her crest held low with worry. "Of course I'm intimidated! But what do you think he will think if we are caught here without permission?"

"I guess your right!" Amaren gulped. Then, with a nervous smile, he added: "At least we know this town is friendly towards dragons." For a last moment, he tried to catch a glimpse of the red draine again between the constructions he could catch a bare glimpse of over the stone wall, but she had completely disappeared amongst the buildings.

"Right then, here goes nothing!" he sighed with a last deep breath. Then he uttered a long, drawn-out howl that seemed to echo off the distant cliffs. The clattering from the town ceased completely at his call, but for that tense moment, nothing else happened. He was about to call again when the long, deep whoop they had hoped and feared to hear came in reply.

"Right then!" Amaren sighed in a tight voice "there's no turning back now!"

"Did you have to?" Tembarah grumbled as the male rose to his feet. He only smirked and started to walk towards the town, though his gait was not very smooth, betraying his nerves. The female only shook her head and also stood up to follow him.

As soon as they left the safety of the forest, the humans on their side of the town saw them. With excited movements, the creatures pointed towards the two terrified dragons. But at least they couldn't sense any aggression from the group of two-leggers, giving the two reptiles some comfort at least. A weak comfort that was quickly evaporating as they neared the first row of flimsy-looking structures that was covered with some kind of fabric. About a stone's throw away from the structures, Amaren's courage failed him again and he sat down.

"Do ... do you think we are ex-expected to go ... inside?" he stuttered, looking wide-eyed at the humans all looking back at him.

"I don't know ..." Tembarah whimpered, standing behind him. "Maybe ... oh look!"

Amaren turned back again and was relieved to see the flash of silver scales through the opening in the stone wall. Though not the great black drake they had heard of, they were still relieved to see another dragon appear from the town. The draine walked comfortably through the small crowd of humans with her head held high in confidence, the creatures actually making way for her as she passed the heavy metal flaps. To the two new arrival's shock, she held herself as the territory owner, and as such, sat down on her haunches to wait for their approach.

With another nervous gulp, Amaren stood up again and slowly approached her with his head held respectfully low. As they passed between the first of the flimsy structures, he gave a quick glance back at Tembarah, noticing that she has also assumed the respectful posture. Though the worry in her eyes made her look more like a naughty hatchling about to be scolded and Amaren wondered if he had the same appearance. Probably.

The two dragons reached the silvery draine and crouched in front of her. There was a murmuring from the humans that definitely didn't seem to be very friendly, but a comment from the draine in front of them quieted the crowd down again. Amaren did not know what was said, but the humans seemed awkward as if they themselves had been scolded. Some even turned away to continue with what they were busy with, though he could still see that they kept an interested eye on the proceedings between the three dragons.

"We come to thee in peace and hope to find thee strong and healthy!" Amaren spoke, the whining sound of the formal greeting a little too high-pitched for his liking.

"I receive thee in peace, and hope that the winds hath been favourable!" the draine growled smoothly. "Now pray tell me, what is it that I can doth for thee?"

"We, we have flown far for council with the ..." Amaren started, but then suddenly hesitated a little unsure of the exact title " ... the dragon known as the ... Lúg'hir!"

"Shalt that be thee, by any chance?" Tembarah quickly added, a little hopefully.

"No," the silvery draine smiled. "But as his mate, I can allow thee entry to our territory and take thee to speak with him."

"We would appreciate that," Amaren replied with a respectful nod of his head. "And we thank thee."

"Then I bid thee welcome to enter our territory!" the silvery draine completed the ritual. All three dragons relaxed their formal postures, though the two new dragons were still rather conspicuously nervous with all the humans around them. For their part, the humans seemed to pick up immediately when the ritualistic greeting was over and they started to excitedly murmur again amongst themselves. The draine smiled encouragingly as she stood up again. "Please follow me."

"In-inside?" Amaren squeaked when the draine turned around to walk back into the town.

"Inside," the draine confirmed over her shoulder, much to the distress of the other two dragons. "My name is Lainah," she spoke with a comforting croon to ease the worry of her guests as they hesitantly got to their feet as well. "May I ask what is yours?"

"My name is Amaren," the dark green drake started to say as he followed Lainah through the open metal flaps, the act of speaking seeming to help his nerves. "And this is my ..."

"Mate!" the lighter green draine quickly interjected. Amaren shot her a questioning frown, but Lainah failed to notice as she was looking away from them.

"... my mate, Tembarah!" Amaren conceded, following Tembarah's lead. "We are from the Megdolas Forest, in the southern Curndor Mountains. Or were, at least before we were pushed by the Umbrins into the higher Curndor Mountains."

"My, you have travelled far!" Lainah replied, obviously shocked at the news. "I did not realise news of our feats here has travelled that far already. I believe my mate was also originally from the Megdolas, and I used to live just north-west of there myself, near the upper reaches of what the minotaurs called the Belegnen River before ..." She suddenly stopped with an upset scowl, but within moments she cast whatever troubled her from her mind and she continued to address her guests. "So, what is it that you wish of my mate?"

"We ... we have heard of your fight with the other dragons and orcs and ... and we came to see if it is true!" Tembarah admitted shyly, her worry slowly evaporating as she looked around in interest at the activity around them.

"From what I've heard, much of what the rumours say is most likely not true!" Lainah informed them, looking around at them with a smirk. "But we did fight off an army of orcs and the Umbrins who lead them here."

"Do you ... ?" Amaren started to ask, his own nervousness disappearing. Instead, it seemed that he was becoming more and more surprised at what he was witnessing.

Lainah glanced in the direction he was staring and snorted in amusement when she noticed Jerielle. The red draine had been hitched to a cart like a horse and was helping to pull the large load of thin strips of wood. From her expression, it was obvious that she wasn't very sure about the role asked of her, but the humans she approached greeted her enthusiastically and quickly started to unload the strange wooden objects.

"I thought you are fighting the Umbrins from here?" Amaren finally managed to speak his mind, something in the interaction between human and dragon suggesting that the draine was not subservient to the humans.

"And you want to join in?" Lainah suddenly growled, stopping dead in her tracks and turning around to regard them with narrowed eyes. "Tell me why?"

"Well, um ... " Amaren started to argue, suddenly feeling unsure of himself when he sensed the shift in her mood.

"What do you mean?" Tembarah asked, also a bit worried.

"Just," Lainah started to speak, trying to calm her sudden hostility with a deep breath. "You have heard about the Lúg'hir carrying a human into battle, right?"

"Yes!" Amaren squeaked but held her gaze.

"And you are aware that the same may be expected from you if you decide to join this fight?" Lainah added.

"Yes!" Amaren repeated without hesitation.

"So, why are you willing to accept a rider in this fight against the Umbrin Dragons, when all our instincts demand us not to submit to another species like that?" Lainah finally asked seriously. "Is it for glory, for acceptance ... for vengeance?"

A dangerous scowl appeared on her snout at the last word, and Amaren understood that was what troubled the silvery draine. True, he had once sought revenge for the brutal deaths of his sire and dame two generations past, and though he had not witnessed it himself, the deaths of his own sires and dame. But that emotion had died with all the others long ago and now he only wanted to survive long enough to try again for a clutch of his own. Nothing came of the first attempt before he had sought Tembarah out again to make sure that she was still safe. The memory was painful, but with Tembarah's first clutch by that other drake also lost, they dared not try again themselves.

"Nothing of the sort!" Tembarah snapped while Amaren was still considering the question.

"I promise you that is not the case!" Amaren agreed. He took a deep breath before he explained what it was he wanted. "Yes, everyone we have ever known is either dead or we have completely lost contact with them. But I cannot wait in a hole in the ground until they come for me next. I just cannot!" He broke eye contact with the silvery draine and looked without really seeing at the part of the town that seemed to have burned. "Why do I want to fight? To have a future!"

"Well answered!" Lainah replied with a broad smile, the strange hostility suddenly completely gone. "I think the Lúg'hir will like you. His human as well!"

The red draine had been unhitched from the cart in the meantime and Lainah quickly called her over for an introduction.

"Yes, we are actually going to be fighting Juinkarr itself," Lainah started to explain as she turned to continue walking down the strip of round stones that led through the buildings. "But there are too few of us at the moment, and most of us are wholly unprepared for what is coming. That means we need time to get ourselves in order, a lot of time! So in the meantime, we are helping the humans here to rebuild their homes they had lost when they helped us to fight the orcs. Merec ... um, the Roccan'hir thinks that will help build up trust between our peoples, something which lies at the heart of our failures up to now."

Lainah was suddenly stopped by a rather scrawny human male. He asked her something, indicating to the two new dragons. Lainah had barely started to answer him when she suddenly hesitated.

"Just to be sure, will both of you be joining?" she asked a little awkwardly. "I'm just asking because you," she indicated towards Amaren with a wing "were the most vocal about this whole joining up affair, but I have not heard much from you?" She indicated again towards Tembarah.

"I ... I will go where my mate goes!" Tembarah insisted.

"You are welcome to stay and help!" Lainah said with a knowing smile. "Believe me, every little bit helps. But it doesn't mean that you need to accept a rider." Another scowl appeared on her snout, but she quickly got rid of it again. "I myself isn't planning on fighting again, so I won't be accepting a rider. Yet, as you said, I will help my mate in whatever way I can."

"I ..." Tembarah started a little hesitantly, not having expected to be given the choice. "Let's first see how things develop."

"Right then," Lainah smiled, seemingly satisfied. "I'll have a saddle made for your mate then, and for the time being just a harness for you." She indicated to the leathery network of knotted strips on herself.

"Yes," Tembarah agreed. "That would be a good idea, I think."

"Yes please!" Amaren added, sounding surprisingly eager about the idea.

Lainah returned her attention to the scrawny human. She quickly spoke to him before he rushed off to who-knew-where.

"Right then," Lainah suddenly announced. "I'll introduce you to the Lúg'hir, then we'll get you something to eat and see where we can put you to work."

"Is it a good idea to eat the two-leggers' ... prey?" Tembarah questioned surprised. "I've heard you should leave those alone at all times."

"Normally, that is very good advice," Lainah agreed with a smirk as she started to walk off again. "But now they are giving us food in return for our help with the rebuilding of the town. The food and the saddles that is. You see, it is kind of like we help them and they help us. The Roccan'hir had tried to explain something about a budget granted to us by the town's territory owners, but I didn't really understand much of what he said. At least, the Lúg'hir seemed to understand though, so I guess that everything is in good order. Ah, speaking of which, there he is!"

Amaren and Tembarah stopped where they were, the sudden awe of the moment crashing into them and causing their nervousness to return full force. With wide eyes, they looked at the thick, black tail and the strong back of the famous drake. He sat on his haunches and actually had the audacity to be arguing with another two-legger, some equine in simple leather armour. For a moment, Amaren was surprised to notice that he was not nearly as big as they thought he would be. But then, surprise turned to utter shock when Lainah spoke.

"Gahntuar," the silvery draine said with a slight croon to her voice. "I have brought the new arrivals as you requested."

"Ah, good, thank you, my dea... " Gahntuar said as he turned around, but he stopped in complete shock when he locked eyes with them. For an awkward moment, the dragons could only stare at each other, frills raised in shock and mouths actually hanging open. Lainah could only look bewildered from Gahntuar to the new dragons and back. Finally, before she could ask what was the matter, Gahntuar managed to find his voice again. "Amaren? Tembarah?"

The black dragon's voice broke the hex of the moment.

"Dad?" both Amaren and Tembarah questioned, as if unbelieving of what they were seeing. Then a dam seemed to break and with an excited shout of "DAD!" they rushed towards Gahntuar. The three dragons hugged each other in a mad tangle of various limbs and curled necks, their delighted purring drowning out the surprised comments of the nearby humans who had stopped to point at the heap of scales.

"Dad?" Lainah asked surprised as she stepped closer, sounding a little awkward to interrupt the moment.

"These are my very first hatchlings!" Gahntuar announced with a proud purr, not letting the two new dragons go. Then, with an emotional squeak to his voice, he addressed his whelps. "I ... I thought you were dead!"

"So did we!" Tembarah whimpered, pressing her snout against his chest as if looking for comfort. "It is so good to see you!"

"What happened?" Amaren squeaked, also very emotional. "Why did you disappear like that?"

"I ... I left to go stay in the Thirstlands," Gahntuar admitted, his crest wilting in shame. "I thought I had lost everything and just wanted to be alone."

"But ..." Tembarah asked, but she was interrupted by a still confused Lainah.

"Excuse me, but are both your hatchlings?" she asked and both Amaren and Tembarah suddenly wilted like naughty hatchlings again.

"Yes... " Gahntuar agreed, a little awkwardly. "Well, kind-of. We are not exactly sure who is of whose blood. You know the story: Three young dragons just coming into puberty, two drakes very eager to experience what they had learned of sex, one like-minded draine just coming into her first heat." Then, frowning slightly at his hatchlings' reaction to Lainah's question he dared to ask: "Why do you ask?"

"They told me they were mates!" Lainah growled, her ears bright red with embarrassment, but obviously not impressed at all about the attempted deception. "I already told Jerielle as much!"

"Did they?" Gahntuar growled in kind, giving the two an evil eye only a father seemed to be able of creating. His two hatchlings seemed to wilt even further under his scrutiny and dared not meet anyone's eyes.

"I ..." Amaren started to look for an excuse, but his half-sister quickly beat him to it.

"It was my idea," she stated. "I ... I didn't want to answer awkward questions about why we are still together after more than a century as adults."

"Have you two ever..." Gahntuar started to ask but decided to let it slide. This was a happy reunion and he would be damned to let something like this spoil the mood. Though make no mistake about it: He was definitely going to ask them more about it when they were alone.

"It is not a good idea to introduce yourself with a lie!" he finally stated, but then turned to Lainah with a bit of a sad smile. "But I think we all have things we would like to keep to ourselves, for the time being at least."

"I guess," Lainah replied a little softly, looking down at one upraised forepaw as if she saw a stain there.

"So let us not dwell on it for now," Gahntuar decided. "This is a happy reunion, we shouldn't spoil it."

"Have you heard from other dad?" Tembarah suddenly asked, doing exactly what Gahntuar had tried to avoid.

"I ..." Gahntuar sighed, his head held low in distress. He looked awkwardly at Lainah, words failing him for the moment. Reading the drop in his mood correctly, his hatchlings knew what happened even before Lainah spoke.

"I was Jenour's mate before he ... before Segrien ..." she couldn't bring herself to complete the sentence. But the two young adults in front of her wilted completely at the infamous name. "I am so sorry!"

"We kind of expected it," Amaren muttered dejectedly "but it still hurts to hear it confirmed."

"At least we found each other again!" Gahntuar crooned, hoping to raise the mood again. Then, as if he was sent, he noticed a familiar human approach them.

"Oh, yes!" Gahntuar chirped excitedly. "Let me introduce you to my human!"

Having completely forgotten about the rumours of the Lúg'hir's human, Amaren and Tembarah stared in shocked surprise as their own father called another human over. The two had a quick conversation in that language the two new dragons couldn't understand before Gahntuar indicated to them with a flick of his wing.

"Yes," he spoke once again in dragonic. "These are the new dragons who announced themselves just now. This is Amaren and his half-sister Tembarah." Then with a proud chirp, he added. "They are my first hatchlings!"

"Really!" the human smiled, speaking in a very tight form of dragonic. "I is honoured to meeting you!"

"You speak dragonic?" Tembarah asked shock, making the human laugh.

"Just a little," he admitted "and I shit on it ... I am bad at it!" The human flinched away from Gahntuar before their father could give him a reprimanding nip. The slip up actually helped to relieve the depression again and the four dragons laughed merrily at the human's expense. Though he obviously didn't mind it in the slightest and actually joined in their merriment.

"And this is my human companion, Merec!" Gahntuar introduced the human. Then he turned to Merec. "Although, they told Lainah and Jerielle that they were mates, so let's keep to that story for the moment, okay? I don't want to be putting out fires between the Lúgroccae already."

"Do they ..." Merec asked with a frown, indicating towards the two siblings. But then he thought better of it and dropped the question. "Never mind, it is none of my business anyway. Sure, I'll play along."

"Thank you!" Gahntuar crooned as he nuzzled Merec, before turning his attention back to Amaren. "Right now, I want to know how you have been ..."

***

"Bad form! Bad form!" the phoenix squawked, sounding more like a cousin of Jihni than a truly sentient being.

"Hold your spear higher, Alex!" the old dragonslayer commanded, most likely having picked up on the phoenix's warning. "You as well, Shella!"

The most recent hopeful recruit for the Lúgroccae, a very youthful male fox who had arrived in town only four days ago, did as the intimidating equine instructed. The female wolf next to him, a rather unsuccessful adventurer in her mid-twenties already considering her patchy attire, sighed a little annoyed but followed the fox's example.

Eric sighed annoyed, rubbing his palm across the bridge of his snout. "Higher!" he called out firmly and grabbed the spear the young vulpine was holding, lifting it forcefully to the correct level. The equine was pretty sure the young lad was still very much a virgin and had most likely run away from home to join with them. It wouldn't be the first time he had encountered recruits still wet behind the ears, nor would it be the last. "You want the blade of your weapon as much in your line of sight as possible!"

The young fox called Alex frowned unimpressed at the business end of his 'spear'. It was only a padded ball of cloth so as to not cause real harm to anyone present on the training field but somehow weighted to help with simulating the correct feel of the weapon.

"Look at where Kerron has his weapon!" Eric added, indicating with an outstretched arm towards one of the only two humans present in the group. "And how he is holding it! That means you two, Merec and Aerhin!" He rounded on the other human and the elf next to him. "Grasp the shaft further apart! It is a pole weapon, not a sword!"

The human and elf adjusted their grips as instructed and Eric whinnied in satisfaction. They seemed to be getting the idea, finally. He waited patiently for the silvery draine sitting next to him to complete her translation for the benefit of the tetrapods who couldn't understand a word he was saying. Though the instructions were meant for the five bipeds present, he considered it important that the dragons also understood how the weapons their future riders would be using actually worked.

"Better!" he sighed, finally seeming satisfied with their stances. "Remember, you will be using your central hand as a pivot, so get it as much in the centre as possible. Use your back hand to move the blade side to side. Right then, everybody take up the positions I showed you!"

There was a quick scramble as the four dragons and a random gryphon lined up against the five bipeds. The action still seemed a bit awkward, but they got themselves in order quicker than last time. They were nowhere near any military standard, but he couldn't expect them to get it right immediately. But they would get there, eventually.

"Good!" the equine snapped once the ten recruits were ready. "On my count, step aside and strike your target as I have instructed. Dragons, deflect the strike as I explained. Three, two, one, strike!"

In what should have been a coordinated movement, the bipeds stepped forward and towards their right, raising their makeshift spears across their chests to strike at the armpit of the tetrapod opposite them. Had their weapons been equipped with proper blades, this strike would have penetrated through the softer scales there and punctured the larger creatures' lung. It was one of the first basic moves taught to dragonslayers and many a dragon had met its end because of it. Of course as with all manoeuvres, what he had them practice now was not nearly foolproof and the experienced dragonslayer had seen many a slayer's strike being easily deflected by the move he had now taught these dragons.

They shifted their weight a little forward as well but leaned slightly away from the attack. Not much though, only enough to free their weight off the paw nearest to the biped 'attacking' them. The shaft was then deflected with an upward flick of a wing, pushing the wood aside with the palm of their wingarm. With the blade of the weapon flung in a wide arch away from their chest and their weight off the closest front paw, the follow-up manoeuvre for the dragons would have been to strike their attacker with a sideswipe. But that was a lesson for another day. Right now they had to learn to perform this defensive manoeuvre first, quickly and precisely.

As it were, the results of the strike and defensive block varied considerably.

Kerron, as a previous town guard, knew the spear well and handled it with a well-practised and deadly grace. Of course, he would probably be good with the bow as well, given the traditions of the town. But the old dragonslayers suspected that he will have some difficulties in learning how to handle the sabre when the time came to that. For now, however, the padded ball of cloth at the business end of his spear struck fast and true, catching the bright green draine he was sparring with, in the ribs just behind her elbow. Tembarah's movements were not poorly executed, but it lacked the speed and agility that only comes with practice.

The same went for the drake she called her mate, the dark iridescent green drake known as Amaren who was apparently Gahntuar's eldest son. His movements were also halting, but the drake was lucky enough to be pared with the struggling adventurer Shella. The female lupine's strike was not nearly fast enough and the drake managed to block it with surprising ease.

Jerielle, the red draine who was the first dragon other than Gahntuar to join up, was not as lucky. Her movements were even slower and lacked any precision whatsoever. She would have been struck 'dead' if her sparring partner had been even a little better. Alex moved equally slowly and clumsily, actually managing to land his strike on the thick scales of her shoulder. True, it would have hurt like crazy and might have crippled the draine, giving a much-needed opening for a better-prepared opponent. Which just proved that the idea of some kind of armour for the dragons was not nearly as foolish as some of the townsfolk who had heard about it, seemed to think. But even without the added protection, the strike was nowhere near good enough and the fox whelp would still have met his end soon had this been a real fight.

At least there was some hope. Despite their unfamiliarity with the weapon, both Merec and the elf Aerhin moved quickly and precisely, while their sparring partners performed equally well. All four were after all veterans by now. Even the odd gryphon that had joined them, Aesu, had also been part of the town guard until very recently when he started to follow the black dragon around for reasons only known to him. The gryphon did have trouble with the manoeuvre though, as his wings lacked the flexible palm and the dexterous thumb. And they moved differently, forcing him to compensate by moving more forward to get his wing in position.

Eric considered the gryphon with a frown for a moment. He was not entirely sure about the bird joining in the training. They were going to be the 'Dragonriders' after all. But at least he filled in the slot for the elf to join in with the training. But with a shake of his head, he returned his attention back to the training itself.

"Shella!" he called. "Look at where you are intending to stab, and as I said, raise your weapon higher. Same for you Alex. Don't just commit to a strike and hope for the best! Keep your eye on the blade of your weapon even as you strike.

"Good work, Amaren!" he turned his attention to the dragons. It was strange to be training the creatures he had hunted for so long, but the betrayal of his old way of life did not bother him in the slightest as he had feared it might. "But you need to learn to move faster. If your opponent was even slightly better trained, you'd be bleeding right now! Tembarah, close your wings more. You don't want a spear to pierce your membranes, do you? And Jerielle, keep your wings lower. I know it is a bit uncomfortable, but in a fight, you want to be able to protect your flanks with them." Truth be told, he didn't know that last part, but it kind of made sense ... he hoped.

"The rest of you, good work!" the equine praised them with a satisfied whiney. "But you still need to learn how to handle yourself quicker. Now, Again!"

As his pupils reassumed their original positions again, he turned to regard Lainah sitting comfortably next to him as she translated his instructions to the dragons.

"We need to get you in there as well," he commented when he thought she was done. "You sure you don't want to spar against me?"

"I don't intend to fight again ..." she replied softly, looking at one of her forepaws as she flexed it in thought. But then she seemed to consider something, and forcing herself to put her paw down again, she regarded the old dragonslayer. "But I think you are right. Gahntuar may need me in the future, so as soon as the other dragons have a grasp of the human language, I'll join in." She suddenly smirked at him. "Or you can learn dragonic..."

"I'll actually appreciate it if you can teach me!" the horse replied, much to the surprise of the draine. He turned back to his students and was pleased to see that they were already ready for him. "Right then! Three, two, one, strike!"

The results of the execution were very similar to the first, but there was a clear improvement in their movements as his advise was considered. It will still be a long time before they will have this action under control, but it was a promising start.

"Good!" Eric whinnied impressed. Though there was still a lot of room for improvement. "Alex, place your feet wider apart ... and turn your back foot to the side. Like that, yes. Now, again!"

Amaren muttered something under his breath as they reset for another strike. Lainah did not hesitate and immediately barked something angrily back at him. The drake quickly replied in kind, but he still flinched at being reprimanded before eventually bowing his head in submission.

"What was that about?" Eric asked a little worriedly.

"Nothing!" Lainah quickly replied, a little curtly.

"That didn't look like 'nothing'!" the horse commented with a raised eyebrow. Lainah sighed, not really wanting to repeat what the drake had said. But before Eric could press her, she conceded.

"Amaren wants to know why we are being taught to fight against each other instead of learning how to fight with each other," she stated.

"That is actually a good question, and I should have covered that before we started!" Eric replied seriously, again much to the draine's surprise. "Will you translate for me?"

"Of course," she agreed, not sure what he was intending.

"I mean, everything..." he stressed.

"I ... I will," the draine replied, suddenly a little unsure of what he was planning.

"Amaren there asked a good question," Eric started. "'Why are we being taught to fight against each other instead of learning how to fight with each other?' The answer is simple: Right now, you have very few friends to rely on and a whole lot of enemies who would like to see you destroyed. The day will come when you will have to fight either dragonslayers or other dragons. Now my speciality is dragon-slaying ... "

Lainah hesitated when he came to that part, but she had agreed to translate for him so she continued. Of course, the three new dragons stumbled back in surprise when they heard that titbit of information.

"... Yes, I was a dragonslayer before you knew me!" Eric admitted, feeling a bit awkward at the stares he received. "But now I am here to impart my knowledge to you. If you will allow me, I can teach you not only how to fight the dragons you will come up against, but also how to defend against any bipeds trained to fight dragons. Know your enemy, and they will not be able to surprise you."

Jerielle snarled something that sounded very unfriendly.

"Jerielle wants to know how we can trust you if you have killed dragons before!" Lainah translated for him.

"Fair point, I guess!" Eric agreed, not meeting the red dragon's gaze. "I cannot ask your forgiveness nor your acceptance. But when I was still a slayer, I didn't know much about dragons except what was important to fight them. And now that I know you better, I cannot go back to what I once was. All I can ask you is to accept whatever I can do to help you prepare for the future ahead of you."

Gahntuar then said something, the low rumble of his voice sounding oddly calm, yet authoritative. Jerielle glared at him for a moment but accepted what he said with a bow of her head.

"Gahntuar thanked you for changing your ways," Lainah explained equally calmly "and said that he is glad to have your help in preparing us for the fighting that is to come."

"Thank you, Lúg'hir!" Eric accepted the thanks with a quick bow. Then he turned back to the other dragons. "As for fighting together as a unit, your other mentor has gone south to recruit tutors for you who can teach you those skills, so fear not. You will learn how to fight as a team. Just, not now. Right now, back to your positions. Three, two, one, strike!"

The pupils moved through the manoeuvre five more times when a sudden rush of feathers caught Eric's attention. As he had the recruits reset their positions again, he glanced over his shoulder to see a new gryphon, with striking golden plumage and an elegant ivory head, had landed in the little field where they were training. He was panting heavily, obviously having flown too far or too fast, or both. Or maybe the fact that he was carrying two humans on his back was to blame? The horse knew they were able to do so, but he always understood that they preferred not to.

He suddenly snorted in surprise when he recognized sir Harald dismounting from the gryphon. He hadn't expected him back for another two days at least.

"Company!" the old dragonslayer snapped suddenly. "Atten-tion!"

Like the first time they had tried to execute the manoeuvre he was trying to teach them, the reactions to his summons were rather varied. Having some military background, Kerron and Aerhin were quick to react properly. Merec, on the other hand, was a little slow, but still obediently moved into position as quickly as possible and holding his spear at attention against one shoulder as he saw the other two do. The original two dragons blinked in surprise at him, but also quickly followed his lead, though a little bit unsurely and they only stood next to him since they knew of no formal way of presenting themselves.

But the rest of the company only stood there, looking around completely dumbfounded at the strange reaction. Gahntuar whispered something to Merec and Eric caught a hushed reply of "If I'm to lead them, I must set an example." The horse couldn't help but smile at that. He had his doubts concerning the human when he ignored the training in favour of solely rebuilding the town, but now he wondered if the young human might just actually make a good Roccan'hir after all.

"As you were!" sir Harald commanded, failing to hide a chuckle at the poor attempt at discipline. But it didn't trouble him much at the present. He hadn't expected spectacular military discipline this early in their training after all. Then again, he didn't expect so many individuals either. "Merec, Gahntuar! A word if you please?"

As Merec and Gahntuar fell out of line to approach the old solders, Eric resumed his drilling of the rest of the recruits.

"Good afternoon, sir." Merec greeted his original tutor.

"Sir," Gahntuar added with a respectful nod, poignant ignoring the two new arrivals who were staring bug-eyed at the group of dragons training basic dragon-slaying techniques. It was starting to get old in his opinion.

"Good day," sir Harald returned the greeting, looking over Merec's shoulder at where the recruits were being drilled. "I see training is going well."

"Eric had to bully me into it," Merec admitted, looking around as well "but it is going better than I expected. How was the trip?"

"Mostly uneventful, though that is what I need to talk to you about!" sir Harald admitted. "But first, tell me about this?" The older man indicated with an outstretched hand to the group training. "I leave you with two dragons and a few days later, you have ... five?"

"You will continue to do this until you can perform it quickly and flawlessly!" Eric was shouting at them. "Now again! Tsk, Krr, Gha ... Ikess!"

Merec blinked in surprise at the horse's attempt at dragonic. Though the numbers were passible, that last word translated more to 'you stalk' than 'you kill/strike', something Lainah was probably advising him on right now. Still, the pupils seemed to understand and they executed the manoeuvre once more.

"They don't breed that quickly, sir!" Merec replied with a devious smirk, knowing full well that it was not what his mentor had meant. But before sir Harald could comment on it, he quickly became more serious again. "Apparently, news of our fight last month has started to reach the dragons as well. These are Lumor Dragons who have come to join us, hoping to strike back at the Umbrins before they are completely annihilated. I hear that some of them had tried to fight back, but all attempts at resistance have met with disaster. So our success here has given them hope."

"Lumor Dragons?" the golden gryphon squawked, suddenly finding his voice again. "Umbrins?"

"They are the different dragon clans!" Gahntuar quickly explained. "The Lumors opposed Juinkarr at the end of the Dark Age, and the Umbrins still serve the dark fortress!"

"I thought that was only a myth," the human female gasped, before quickly realizing that may have not been the best first impression when the dragon gave an upset growl. With a quick apology, she stepped a little back, holding up her hands placatingly

"I assume these are the ... aerial combat tutors, you mentioned?" Merec commented with a quick motion to the new gryphon and rider with Harald, before Gahntuar's pride ruined the moment.

"That is correct!" sir Harald agreed, noticing what the younger man was intending. "Glenn, Lekreh. Can you come here please?"

As the two approached them, Gahntuar shot Merec a knowing glare but allowed his crest to relax slightly again.

"This is Merec and Gahntuar I have told you about," Harald informed the other two, before turning his attention back to the dragon and rider. "This is Glenn and her gryphon partner, Lekreh. In their time, they were the best team in Thendor's Air Force. That is until they had to leave the service for ... personal reasons."

"Pleased to meet you," Merec greeted them with an eager shake of the hand and a respectful nod at the gryphon.

"Likewise," Gahntuar agreed, bowing his head in a polite nod. "So, how long have the two of you been flying together?"

"Near seven years," Glenn answered, seemingly getting quickly to grips with the fact that Harald had been correct after all. "And the two of you?"

"Just over three years now," Merec replied, a little awed at their experience.

"Flown much together yet?" Lekreh asked, also seemingly over the shock. He started to walk around Gahntuar, appraising him from all sides as if this was the first time he had actually seen a dragon.

"Some," Merec started to say, raising a questioning eyebrow at the golden gryphon's behaviour.

"Not enough," Gahntuar admitted, his crest raised worriedly as he twisted his head around to keep an eye on the gryphon inspecting him. But at the same time, he sat down comfortably as if to indicate to the creature that he was not concerned about the sudden interest he was being shown.

"Merec still gets ... what is it again ... airsick," Gahntuar continued, still a little upset at the memory. "And I don't have a proper saddle yet. We are still hunting for difficulties in the design ... what are you doing?"

"That might be a problem!" Lekreh replied, nodding to himself in satiation at the flinch the dragon gave when he had nipped at a scale on the dragon's flank. Ignoring the upset hiss, the gryphon indicated to the other dragons still going through the manoeuvre. "Do they have saddles yet?"

"No, only harnesses," Merec admitted. "They have been arriving only this week, but we still have some time to work things out." At the upset glances between the gryphon-knight pair, Merec quickly added: "And for the present, we don't need that many anyway, two more will do. Lainah isn't interested in a saddle, and ... the green female is also not sure if she'll be taking one."

"That is the problem I wanted to talk to you about," sir Harald grumbled. "We are out of time!"

"What do you mean?" Merec asked, unsure of what his old mentor had meant.

"He means that we have to leave if we want to live through this week," Lekreh replied quickly as he resumed his place next to his rider.

"We?" Glenn hissed at him below her breath. "I thought we agreed to only come to have a look!"

"We agreed to stick around for a bit and at least give them a lesson or two!" Lekreh reminded her, ignoring the confused glances Merec and Gahntuar was giving them. "But for that to happen, we will have to leave the peninsula with them."

"Wait, what do you mean leave the peninsula?" Merec gasped shocked.

"And just when I was starting to fit in here!" Gahntuar grumbled.

"Politics, my lad!" sir Harald informed them with a sigh. "Haven't you noticed your audience?"

With a covert nod away from town, he indicated to the expected gryphon-knight patrol who had been making fun of Merec's Roccan'hir title. Merec had seen them take an interest in their training just as they were starting and he had wondered what their impression of the drilling was. Probably not good, given the awkwardness of all involved.

"The gryphon-knights, yes!" Merec grumbled, the thought of them already annoying him. "It is a patrol from Perston that passes through here once a day. I'm told that it is part of their new routine and to make sure that order is being kept here as well. Though I suspect it is more to keep an eye on the dragons." He hesitated suddenly, squinting up at the group arranged on the rise of the hill. "But they are usually only two gryphons and their riders."

Instead of the mentioned two pairs, he could now make out six gryphons. Of the two gryphons he had seen earlier, one was talking to his rider while indicating down at where he and sir Harald stood. The other was arguing with one of the newcomers something fierce, obviously having received news that was not very welcome.

"It seems that the king has gotten it into his head that he can use your dragons to expand his influence onto the mainland!" sir Harald grumbled, clasping the younger man on the shoulder to encourage him not to stare up at the gryphons too conspicuously.

"What?" Gahntuar snapped with a growl, his crest raised in indignation. "Now why would we want to do that?"

"That won't happen!" Merec agreed with a frown. "The dragons aren't loyal to the king and won't fight for what they would perceive as only his glory. And giving them any orders like that will only scare them off fast than a dragon can fly."

"I know that," sir Harald stated quickly, remembering the many times he had to convince Gahntuar to do something during Merec's initial training. "But remember that most of the people on the peninsula think dragons are wild beasts and consider you as some kind of tamer."

"Maybe we should go there and explain to him that we are not some pets who can be ordered around!" Gahntuar replied with a determined growl. "Pluck this weed before it takes proper root, as you would say."

"That may actually make things worse," Lekreh quickly interjected. "I assume dragons have territories ... Yes? Good. Now, you can think of the Peninsula as the king's territory and just like the owner of a dragon territory has say over what is allowed where he lives, the king will expect your obedience. He does for us gryphons."

"At the very least, he can demand the obedience of Merec here!" Harald added, motioning to the worried young man. "So if you think your time here last year was difficult, wait until you attempt to defy the king. You don't have any political support to attempt that."

"Political support?" Gahntuar asked. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Basically, we don't have enough friends with influence to help us!" Merec explained, rubbing his hand across his face as he tried to think what to do to get out of this mess. "It is the same issue we had with the town last year all over again. Only this time, they expect you to be that beast of burden you kept telling me you're not."

At that, the dragon curled his lips back to bare his teeth at no one in particular. Though, Lekreh and Glenn jumped quickly back in shock at the display, suddenly reminding that this was not a tame dragon.

"So, we'll just do what we did last time and ignore them!" Gahntuar decided with a determined snap of his jaws. "What is the worst that could happen?"

"Quite a lot, actually!" Harald replied calmly. Much to the other two's surprise, he and Merec took the dragon's slight tantrum in stride without so much as a flinch. "I guess the best-case scenario would be the king to most likely try and have you separated ..."

"Then I'll just go get Merec where-ever he is being kept..." Gahntuar sneered, rounding on the older man as if in a challenge.

"Against the entire Thendor army?" Harald snapped back in return, folding his arms across his chest in annoyance. "Here, it was only a small town no one considered important you were up against. But now it will be the entire Peninsula! And even if you survive, you'll have lost all the trust you have gained here."

For a moment he caught sight of Glenn's astounded expression and he suddenly realised that he was arguing with an angry dragon. He recalled his own surprise when he first saw Merec do the same and he had to fight back a grin at the thought. For all his growling and threatening, Gahntuar was actually a very likeable and caring personality ... once the two of you got to know each other. Gahntuar conceded Harald's point with an irritated snap of his jaws. In the moment of silence that followed, they realised that the group training to one side had fallen silent as they turned to watch the dragon's tantrum with a rising worry.

"But that isn't even the real problem we have," Lekreh added, glancing a little hesitantly at Gahntuar as he spoke.

"There is more?" Merec sighed, sounding tired all of a sudden.

"I'm afraid so," the gryph admitted, his ear tufts pulled flat. "The Alliance of Light has learned that you are going to be summoned to appear before the court and they intend to eliminate you before you even reach the capital."

"What was that about obedience?" Gahntuar grumbled, glaring at the gryphon as if he was the one responsible. The golden gryphon clacked his beak worriedly and took a slight step back again.

"Gahntuar is right," Merec quickly interjected, laying a hand on the dragon's shoulder to remind him to be calmer. "They cannot go against the king like that. If we go south, at least we will have the protection ..."

"That won't work, I'm afraid," sir Harald interrupted him. "From what I have heard, the political landscape of Lendor is in turmoil. After our siege last month, the Alliance seems to have gained a lot of political power. Enough for them to consider themselves capable of defying the king, or maybe even be capable of rivalling the throne itself for control of Thendor! Though I doubt they would normally dare to do something like this, for something they feel as strongly about as any shadowspawn staying in the capital, they seem more than willing to do so."

"They want to become territory owner of the peninsula?" Gahntuar gasped, his crest raised high in shock.

"Not yet, at least!" sir Harald quickly corrected the dragon's perception. "I doubt they will be stupid enough to try anything like that now, but in the coming years, anything is possible. And if that happens, then there will be no place on the peninsula for you to hide."

"So, what do you propose?" Merec asked, looking south again where the group of gryphon-knights had taken off, heading southeast to Perston for the night.

"You cannot stay here, that is for sure!" Lekreh decided.

"Back before the siege, you mentioned something about wanting to go to the Circle of Five?" sir Harald asked. He was a little bit surprised when both Merec and Gahntuar soured at the suggestion.

"The Amber Tower was rather keen to get their hands on me since I have a little ability with magic," Merec admitted, still glancing away to where the other gryphons had disappeared to.

"You can do magic?" Lekreh asked surprised, but his rider hushed him.

"Why didn't you go before the attack then?" she asked.

"It was ... complicated," Merec replied, looking back at her with an expression that conveyed that he didn't want to talk about it. "But it is mostly resolved now, I guess."

"Great!" Lekreh chirped "I suggest we go find refuge at the Amber Tower then. We'll be out of reach of Thendor and the Alliance alike there."

"But we'll most likely be in the same boat as we are here!" Glenn muttered with a cautionary tone. "What is to stop their archmagus from trying to yoke the dragons' strength as well. Even worse, he will have magic at his disposal to help change their minds!"

"I doubt that will be a problem," Merec admitted with a sigh. "The Amber Tower itself is close to the main dragon home range, and the yellow vixen who had tried to get me to follow her there in the first place wasn't surprised or even intimidated in the least when she met Gahntuar." He sighed as he considered their options. "Though I'm loathe to admit it, I think they are our best option right now."

"It is settled then!" sir Harald decided then. "We need to leave as soon as possible." He motioned to where their unwelcome visitors had been only moments before. "Try to avoid those guys though, if we can leave the peninsula without having officially received the summons from the king, we can claim ignorance when we are confronted about it. Best not to burn any bridges if we can, you know!"

"Dragons can fly..." Gahntuar started to argue, but Merec quieted him with a pat to his snout.

"That is not what he meant," the human said with a slight chuckle. "I'll explain later."

"I suggest we leave at night as well to give them the slip," sir Harald continued, poignantly ignoring the dragon's remark. However, when the dragon was about to argue again, he quickly explained. "Yes, I know dragons don't like to fly at night, but if we cannot make a clean getaway, we definitely don't want to be making enemies by having to fight our way out of here either!"

"That makes sense," Gahntuar conceded with a grumble. "We can hide somewhere on the Shipwreck coast if it comes to that."

"We still need to finalize the harnesses at least for the other dragons," Merec commented. "but I doubt the aspiring riders have settled in too much. So we should be able to pack up and leave in a hurry. What about tomorrow night then?"

"I would have preferred to leave tonight," sir Harald grumbled "but I guess it cannot be helped. Right then, tomorrow night it is."

"The mayor won't be happy about this!" Merec commented. "I hear he had his hopes set on creating the Lúgroccan headquarters here."

"I hadn't expected anything less, to be honest!" sir Harald smirked. But then he became serious again. "Don't worry about that, leave him to me! You, on the other hand, need to focus on organizing your people for the evacuation."

"Yes, sir!" Merec replied as he and Gahntuar turned to inform the other trainees.

***

"But why do you have to go?" young Claude asked, not even willing to try and hide his disappointment. The older stallion smirked at the innocent question. He sometimes forgot that Claude was still only a teenager with what had happened.

"I've already told you," Eric replied, laying a comforting hand on the young lad's shoulder. "To keep the dragons safe, we have to go to the Amber Tower." Of course, the irony of his answer wasn't lost on him: One of the more successful dragonslayers having to relocate to keep dragons safe.

"But do you have to go tonight?" the human asked. "Can't you stay a bit longer?"

"And how much is longer?" Eric smirked. "You know that it will still be years before you are ready to present your final project to the guild masters. And we have to leave as soon as it gets dark before it is too late."

"But what about aunt Lesley?" Claude tried again. "She is joining you!"

"Lesley is no longer an apprentice," Eric informed the eager youngster, smirking to himself as he considered what the leathersmith's reaction to being called 'Aunt' would have been. "Anyway, she is also staying behind for a bit."

"What? Why?" the young human gasped surprised. "I thought she would be joining you! She still has a lot of work to do for them."

"That may be true," the stallion admitted "but she also has a business she needs to take care of as well. The harnesses will do, for now, so she said she will make her own way to the Amber Tower when she is ready. And when you are ready, you can come and look for us as well."

"But, I want to come along now," the young apprentice sighed, disappointed. "I just, I want to help!"

"I know," the stallion agreed. "But right now, the best way you can help us is to learn as much as you can from master Xeronne."

"I guess," Claude muttered disappointed. Then another thought occurred to him, and turning away from his new friend for a moment, he retrieved something that had been sitting on his workbench. "Do you know where Gahntuar is, or Merec for that matter? I haven't started with the rest yet, but I want Gahntuar to have this before they leave."

"They are trying to be as difficult to find as possible," Eric smirked, taking the lump of metal from the young apprentice. "The gryphon-knights in town have been asking around for them the whole day already, but no-one is sure where they are at this moment."

Eric considered the contraption for a moment. It was shaped vaguely like an ancient hoplite helmet, but with the central nose guard much broader and bend forward, and cheek guards likewise extended forward. Also in addition to the normal eye slits, there were openings for longer ears and two horns cut in a very similar fashion. It was a helm obviously meant for dragons.

"I'll make sure he gets it" Eric commented as he turned to leave.

"Thanks!" the young apprentice managed to smile. "And tell them 'Good luck' for me!"

... to be continued