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"In the year 0081 [of the First Age], the Berthons had nearly conquered all of the peninsula. The only nation still independent of the emerging Empire were the Ferrens, who had settled in the north of the peninsula sometime during the Twilight. However, a lengthy famine had reduced their ability to withstand the Barthons greatly and their final defeat was inevitable.

Buckling under the pressure of war and famine alike, the Catarrii (the poorer farmers and woodsmen that lived in the far north-eastern corner of the Ferren territory) decided to attempt a crossing of the great Catarrum Mountains and attempt to settle in the arid wasteland of what would become known as the Thirstlands to the north. They planned to achieve this via a dangerous mountain pass that had been discovered some three decades before, but had always been considered too dangerous to relocate through. Therefore, following their departure, the Catarrii were considered lost for nearly eighty years before the new Barthon Empire would make contact with them once more on the shores of the Torren River."

• Surviving extract from "The Berthons: The rise and fall of the greatest empire in Seleborian history. " by Arthur Brightheart, renowned historian of the Golden Age.

***

Seghrien sat on a small precipice that overlooked the deepest reaches of the Turundorth Valley. To his right, the distant Gurroc Gap was just out of sight to even his keen eyes. The opening in the mountains that offered easy access to the Shadowlands was probably the only reason that the Circle of Five had been unable to capture the Aetherfontes at the heart of Juinkarr, which was a blessing indeed.

Speaking of which, to his right, safely occupying a large precipice of its own, was the main edifice of Juinkarr itself. The tower seemed to have been carved from the cliff against which it stood, awe-inspiring even though it was now a ruin. Yet, even broken as it was, the ruined tower of black basalt was imposing, dominating the entrance to the narrow mountain passes to the west. Seghrien smirked as he looked upon the ruin; It may have been abandoned for over four hundred years, but the time of its desolation was finally at an end. Juinkarr would not remain broken for much longer. For even as he watched, it was being rebuilt by an army of Shadowspawn. They were even accompanied by a surprising number of Seleborians, who have come to realize that against the overwhelming power of Barathrum there could be no victory.

Indeed, the progress of the rebuilding effort was astounding. Work had started as soon as he had reported the death of the last of the shamebloods to the Master, and it was going well. Any time now, they will reveal to this world that the Dark Kingdom has risen again, and this time they will sweep away all of those fools who failed to acknowledge the superior rule of Barathrum. Once Juinkarr has been established again, no one will be able to defeat it again, no Alliance of Light, no Circle of Five, no rebellious dragons.

He purred as the last thought conjured up the memory of his triumphant return from the Garbanan Peninsula. He had never seen the Master so happy as when he had delivered the hearts of the shameblood and his human mate to the demon lord, the organs magically preserved so that they were still beating even though the disgusting creatures were slain just under a week before. And as promised, the Master had granted him a boon, a fulfillment of a desire he had never before acknowledged.

As if on cue, a furious gust of wind signaled the arrival of another dragon. He turned and smiled warmly at the new arrival, his prize and boon from the Master. The silvery driane, smiled affectionately at him in return, before she lay down gracefully beside him. He extended a comforting wing over her back as she nuzzled him and together, they watched the rebuilding of the great fortress.

He had started to crave her affection during the time he had been preparing for the attack on the little pathetic town where Gahntuar had been staying. Unlike most of the draines he knew, she did not fall over her own feet in an attempt to garner the favor of the Claw of the Master. Instead, she kept her dignity around him as a strong mate should. True, she had been mated to both of the shameblood males, and she had initially sought revenge against him for her smashed eggs. But when she learned what the two brothers really were, she had abandoned her self-appointed quest long enough to see that he only did what he had to do. As the greatest of all the Shadowspawn, it was their divine duty to serve the Lords of Juinkarr with all their strength and to do everything in their power to bring about the glorious return of Barathrum.

"I have never thanked you for saving me from the taint of the shamebloods." she suddenly said as if reading his thoughts. "If I had known what they were, I would never have ... I'd never... " she shuddered in revolution and words failed her.

"Hush now, my dear. They are dead now, and their blood has been destroyed. You need not to worry about them or their legacy anymore." He smiled as he hushed her with a gentle nuzzle to the neck. Then, with a surprised snort, he pulled back from her. Was she ... could she already be ...

Carefully, he reached for her again to sniff deliberately for her scent. To his utter astonishment, he confirmed that it was true: She was in heat! But she couldn't be; it had barely been eighteen months since she had lost her clutch and a draine did not come into season more than once in four years. How ...?

"The Master sends his regards, " she smirked when she noticed he had caught a whiff of her need. Quickly she got up and turned her raised tail towards him.

"The ... Master did this?" he asked astounded. Though he couldn't believe his senses, it did not stop him from eagerly getting to his feet, his own desire quickly swelling between his legs. By the time he was standing behind her, his shaft had already exposed itself and was almost fully engorged.

"The boon you had asked of the master was the right to breed me, was it not?" she smirked, wiggling her hips as he placed a forepaw on her rump. "Did you really think the Master would wait for nature to take its own time before he could have more dragons as loyal as you at his service."

Well, when put like that it made sense that the Master would put her in a magically induced heat as soon as possible. And he would definitely not be complaining. No longer able or willing to contain his desire, he quickly mounted her and sank his entire shaft into her body on the first thrust. The silver draine roared in pleasure and eagerly pushed back into him. He bit at her neck in a fierce, possessive mating bite and without waiting started to rut her with wild abandon. He had a new job to do in the service of Barathrum and he was determined to breed the best dragons to serve the Master.

"Yes! Oh, yes!" the draine screamed in delight. "Fill me with your worthy seed. Let's make a clutch worthy of defending Juinkarr."

Many of the workers down by the tower stopped to look up at the breeding pair of dragons, some even whooping with delight at the sight. Seghrien didn't care that he was in full view of everyone at the building site. He only cared for the moans of the strong draine beneath him, the rippling of her tunnel around his shaft, the building pressure in his loins. He may have had his share of sexual delights, but never before had he actually tried to breed. And somehow, the knowledge that he was about to spark new life within the body he was desperately clutching to, was making this sex even more special.

"My lord?" a sudden voice asked a little timidly. Without stopping his hips, he turned to see the face of a familiar young, blue-grey draine. Ikessa was an irritating young thing who had been following him around ever since they had met, even though tradition said that she was supposed to still be with her dame, helping her to take care of the elder draine's latest clutch. But then again, she was by no means still a whelp, as she was expecting to enter her second or third heat anytime before the coming autumn. And even though it was the silvery draine he was lusting after the most, he had come to care for her despite the fact that she had initially made a nuisance of herself in an attempt to get him to breed her. Therefore, he had indulged her desires for him on more occasions than any of his other partners before her.

"What is it?" he grumbled, still not stopping his movements.

"You ... you asked me to wake you up just before sunrise... "

"You... what? " Seghrien blinked awake to look up at the young draine. Confused he looked around for the silvery draine he was busy mounting, but she was gone, as was Juinkarr.

With a sinking heart, he realized he had only been dreaming. Again. He shifted and flinched at the sensation of his erection pressing against the scales of his inner thigh. He hoped to Gullivarth himself that the young draine before him hadn't notice, or she would be all over him in an attempt to sooth it away. It wouldn't be unwelcome of course, but they didn't have the time. They were practically on the peninsula already.

"You ... asked me to wake ..." she repeated hesitantly.

"Yes-yes, thank you," he muttered dismissively, growling irritably again as he shifted.

"Everything all right, my lord?" Ikessa asked a little unsure.

"Yes." he sighed irritably. Then after a deep, tongue curling yawn, he added with more authority. "Please make sure the horde is getting ready to proceed. We are almost on the peninsula and I don't want any more delays"

"Yes, my lord." she replied, and was already turning around to carry out his order when she suddenly stopped. "Are you sure everything is well?"

"We are on the verge of invading the lands great Gullivarth himself could not gain entry to when he still flew through these skies during the Age of Legends." Seghrien grumbled. "What can you possibly do to help the matter?"

"I..." she hesitated, glancing around to make sure that they were alone. "I can help you release some of that tension, Seghrien."

The use of his name immediately caught Seghrien's attention. She always called him 'My lord'... except when they were intimate. He wasn't sure how, but he just knew that she had noticed his erection.

"I don't know what you are talking ab..." he started to say, but she interrupted him.

"I can smell it, you know." she whispered, stepping closer to him. "I don't know what you were dreaming of, but I guess it riled you up quite a bit."

She nosed between his thighs, but Seghrien tried to close his hind legs and deny her access to him. Yet, she was insistent and with a forceful jab of her snout, she almost immediately found his rigid flesh. She chirped with delight and managed to give it a quick lick before the red drake pulled away.

"There is no time for that." Seghrien grumbled, rolling over onto his chest and flinching as the broad leaves of the grass he lay upon scratched at his exposed dick. "We need to be getting the horde on the move."

"And you want to lead us over the last stretch of mountain pass like that?" she smirked, indicating towards his groin with a snout. She was usually very reserved and obedient towards him, except for when they were alone. Then, she became a lot more playful.

"I'll deal with it myself while you get the troops ready." he grumbled, but she didn't relent. Instead she rubbed her side playfully against his chest.

"C'mon, Seggy," she begged. "We both know that you only have to spill your seed; we don't need to tie."

Seghrien regarded her for a moment. It was difficult to read her face in the gloom before sunrise, but he could tell that she was hopeful. He had often wondered if he had made a mistake when he had allowed himself to mate her so furiously that first time in the snow storm. Yet, if it had been a mistake, it was one he had made repeatedly.

First when they had celebrated their discovery of the location where the Catarrii Pass reached the Ghost River, and then again just three weeks before, when they had been searching for a Catarrii well in the seemingly dry riverbed to quench the thirst of the several thousand strong army.

Not to mention any of the quick times when Chief Urguss's hard headed arguments had gotten on the red drake's nerves and he just needed to blow off some frustration. Then they hadn't tied then either, as he hadn't wanted to have to deal with the obnoxious orc whilst being stuck inside a female.

Ikessa on the other paw had learned to love those quick sessions, often getting him to mount her where they might easily be caught and finding the experience thrilling, almost addictively so. Somehow, he suspected that was the case now again.

"What has gotten into you?" he asked, sitting up straight as she twisted around to rub her tail against him. "I know you are insatiable, but this is extreme, even for you."

"I... don't know." Ikessa admitted, lower her tail she was in the process of wrapping around his chest in shame. "I think I'm just anxious about the battle tomorrow. And we all need you to be focused on getting us to the human lands and leading us in battle." she added determinedly, even though her head drooped dejectedly.

Seghrien regard her again. She was smart for her age and he had learned that it was usually a good idea to consider her opinion carefully. Maybe she had a point; maybe it would be a good idea to blow off some steam before his greatest moment.

Convinced, he quickly got up and nipped at her rump playfully, earning a cute squeak of surprise.

"Alright then," he smirked, placing a paw on her rump. "But only a quick mating, I still want to be on the move before the sun is fully up."

"Yes, Seggy." she smirked in return, widening her stance and lifting her tail for him. When his weight settled on her back, she added a soft "and thank you."

Seghrien hugged her tightly, and with a few quick jabs with his penis, found her opening relatively easily. Without wasting time, he pressed inward and Ikessa squealed in delight as she was spread wide around him again.

Seghrien nipped hard at her shoulder.

"Not so loud!" he hissed with a lusty groan of his own, even as he was repositioning his legs for better access. She was tight around him and surprisingly hot. He couldn't remember her being so invitingly hot and it took all of his willpower not to push in all the way and tie with her.

"I... I thought you wanted me to wake up the camp." she joked, curling her tail around his in a possessive grip.

"Not like this." he chuckled, allowing himself a small moment just to enjoy her body. Her warm, pulsing grip around his turgid flesh was nearly enough to have him spill there and then. Nearly.

Eagerly, he started to roll his hips. Ikessa moaned delightedly as she felt her lover's flesh grind deep within her. She moaned in ecstasy, nearly puncturing her own bottom lip in an attempt to remain as quiet as possible while they mated. It took all of her self control not to push back, not to claim his knot as well.

Seghrien himself failed to remain silent, grunting eagerly each time he pushed forward. He settled quickly into a fast pace, one meant to get them off quickly rather than draw out their pleasure.

And it worked. Within moments, he felt his excitement rise sharply. In no time at all, instinct overcame common sense and Seghrien started to thrust with all of his might, pushing hard to force himself fully into her embrace. Her vaginal lips strained to take him, but to no avail. His knot was already fully engorged and there was no way for him to get it inside her. Not that he acknowledged that fact. Instead he pushed forward again with all of his strength. Ikessa, feeling his desperation to tie, was also caught up in the moment and tried to help him by pushing back into him just as he came forward the third time. They still failed, but the added fiction was enough to drive him over the edge.

He push in hard one last time, and bit firmly at her neck scales. Much-needed release crashed into his mind as he came within her body, flooding her passage with a generous helping of life-giving seed. Though he tried to remain quiet, he still squeaked in ecstasy.

For her part, Ikessa moaned delighted as she felt him fill her. The welcome feeling of spreading warmth pushed her also into a much-needed orgasm and she barely managed to stifle a victorious roar.

The two dragons stood there for a moment, savouring the timeless indifference to their problems enjoying the euphoria of a job well done. But all too soon, really returned to them and Seghrien dismounted her with a satisfied huff. As he pulled from her, he squirted one last rope of semen against her leg his penis gave a final excited jerk.

Ikessa whined when he withdrew himself, but moaned happily again when she felt him lick her clean. He made quick work of the semen that had run free of her pussy, and in no time, she was presentable again.

"Thank you, Kessa." he purred. "You were right, I needed that. How about you, feeling better?"

"I feel much better now, thank you." she purred, rubbing herself affectionately against him again. She reached her muzzle down between his legs to return the favour, but she had barely run her tongue along his length when he nipped at her rump again.

"I'll tend to myself." he said, a little playful but also with a tone of seriousness. "Please go give the order for the army to get ready. I want to be on the march within the hour.

"Yes, my lord." she replied, a little dejected but loyal nonetheless.

To his surprise, Seghrien felt guilt stab at his chest at the use of the title. He reached his snout forward to nuzzle her throat and grinned when she purred in delight.

"Thank you, my dear, " he said. "I promise you that you will be able to play with it as much as you'd like when this is all over. Heck, maybe we can find the time to repeat this once we are on the peninsula."

"Really?" she asked excitedly, much to Seghrien's dismay. He had no idea where that last suggestion had come from, but it cheered the young draine up considerably and he did not have the heart to take it back.

"Maybe!" he stressed, but it was good enough for her. She squeaked happily and nuzzled him in return.

"Now, the army?" he reminded her gently.

"Yes, sir. Of course." she replied, still excited as she turned to carry out his request.

Seghrien watched her leave to carry out his orders. Truthfully, he was a little conflicted about what he thought about her. At times, she was extremely irritating in her insistent attempts to get him to mount her.

Then again, there was no denying that he definitely liked her. She had been very loyal to him throughout all of the trails he had faced over the past year or two and even now, she remained by his side. In fact, she was the only one in this whole army whose loyalty he was confident enough in to confide his hopes and fears to.

Make no mistake, Ikessa was a dear draine, but it was the silvery female that was waiting for him beyond these last few ridges he desired. More than he desired her. Still, the young draine he had just mated remained loyal to him. She knew and accepted that she would not be his dominant mate, but the silvery draine. But that didn't stop her from remaining determined to get him to knock her up.

And he couldn't blame her. He had promised to reward her for her service with what she craved for: a clutch by him. He only hoped that he could handle siring two clutches at the same time. Even though it was a daunting prospect, it wasn't unheard of after all.

But that was worries for another day, he decided he sat down again with a grumble to clean himself. Right now, he had to concentrate on the present. Soon enough, he will be able to sink his teeth into the last of the Shamebloods' neck. Soon, his troubles will be over and the glory of Juinkarr can rise again.

Soon.

***

The early morning found Berthon just outside the forge, where he was going through some of his latest work with a critical eye. His apprenticeship was nearly complete with only a last year to go, and he had been finally allowed to take on any of the tasks requested by the paying customers he desired. Some of the pieces he had been producing as of late were quite good, but of course, his stuff was nothing near the quality of master Xeronne. But that was to be expected, master Xeronne did have a couple of decades on him. Which was fine.

The thing that did really bother him was the thought that Claude, who was his junior, was achieving results similar to him already, though admittedly only with much smaller projects. Master Xeronne didn't quite trust the young lad with more complex tasks yet, but the young man knew it was only a matter of time. Berton sneered at thought of the youngster outperforming him even at a comparable age, but deep inside he knew it would happen sooner than later. The young lad was a prodigy and he did not have to be jealous, but knowing something and achieving it was two completely different things.

A rush of feathers suddenly pulled him from his depressing thoughts. He looked up to see the by now famous Phoenix sitting on one of the rafters of the house, regarding him curiously as seemed to be the Phoenix way. Though the creature has been seen all over town in the past year or so, Berton couldn't help but smirk up at the bright orange bird as it cawed at him.

"Yeah-yeah," Berton remarked. "Something about 'Courage through compassion' and 'unite to stand', whatever that means. You know, if you only didn't talk in riddles all the time people would actually listen to what you have to say."

The phoenix stared blankly at him for a moment, and Berton almost thought the bird did not comprehend what he said. Then it clicked its beak in annoyance at the remark.

"He is coming!" the Phoenix merely stated, before flying off, leaving a confused young man blinking after it.

***

Merec took a controlled breath, holding his sword at the ready in front of him. He took a careful step to the side, mirroring the movement of the mass of iridescent green scales he was facing that had stepped equally carefully in the opposite direction. He did not dare to shift his attention from the snarling dragon; he had made that mistake often enough before.

"You know that toothpick of yours doesn't have that much of a reach?" Gahntuar growled through bared teeth. The threatening display sent icy spikes of terror through Merec's chest, but he held his ground. "You were better off with the bow and arrows."

"Yet it can still sting when it matters." the human replied, tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword. It was a small movement, but exactly what the dragon was waiting for. With a speed that had caught the human by surprise several times before, Gahntuar pounced. In the blink of an eye, he had closed the distance between them and with a precise strike, he swiped at Merec. He had knocked the human over many times before with this lightning strike of his, but this time his opponent was ready for it. With a surprising agility born from the many times his face was planted in the dirt, the human jumped out of the way of the claws and quickly countered with a precise slash of his sword. It was a move that had caught the dragon by surprise the first few times, but this time it failed to score a hit.

Gahntuar avoided the strike easily and was quick to press the attack again, least he gave the momentum of the fight to the human. He feigned an attack with a paw but instead struck with the swipe of a wing. It was a maneuver he had learned from the humans and it had come in handy several times before. But not this time as Merec anticipated it. The human ducked beneath the strong flight fingers of the wing and quickly tried to capitalize on the sudden advantage with a strike at the dragon's side.

Gahntuar nearly fell over in his mad scramble to escape the advancing sword, but ultimately failed. There was a clang of metal, a delighted whoop and an indignant yelp as the flat of the blade glanced off the though scales on the dragon's thigh.

Gahntuar growled irritated at having allowed the human through his defenses and swatted at Merec with his tail before the human could land a better blow. Merec rolled out of the way, but as he tried to get to his feet again, he was knocked over by a wing to the back.

With Merec down, Gahntuar pounced once more and this time he easily managed to pin Merec beneath a paw. In a flash he struck, clamping his teeth firmly around the defeated human's neck.

The dragon held his pose for a few seconds before he pulled away to smirk down at his victim.

"I win!" he gloated. "Again."

"Are you sure?" replied with a smirk of his own.

Gahntuar frowned at his friend for a moment before he suddenly became aware of the tip of Merec's sword pricking into the soft scales in the crook of his shoulder ... Had the sword been sharpened, it would have been a definite death blow.

"Actually, you got your sword up too late, boy," the grumpy voice of Sir Harald floated to them. "So, I agree this round goes to the dragon."

Merec groaned and his sword clattered to the ground as he seemed to collapse in defeat, even though he was already lying prone on his back. Gahntuar's smirk returned in full force and he leaned down to growl playfully at his defeated opponent.

"So I still get to top you tonight!" he growled lowly in his native dragonic. Over the past few months, Merec had been trying to learn to understand the strange language of growls and hisses and whines. As it were, he had enough of a grasp on the nuances of the bestial vocalizations to be able to understand the basic trend of a conversation, though much of the language still eluded him. And recreating the sounds himself was and would always be beyond him.

Gahntuar held his dominating pose for a while longer before he relented and allowed Merec to get up.

"The strike to his haunch should count for something, right?" Merec complained as he sat up again.

"A stab there would have slowed his movements down," Sir Harald agreed "but it still doesn't help you with how your sparring played out." The old blade master smirked at his young apprentice when he noticed Merec's downcast expression. "Oh, don't be too hard on yourself; I'm more than satisfied with the progress you've already made, really impressive I might add. Just remember that you shouldn't commit to anything in a fight before you are satisfied that the only possible outcome will be to your advantage. And learning to sense that intuitively will only come with a lot more practice.

"And remember, Gahntuar here has also been improving in his fighting abilities against you."

"I guess so." Merec sighed as he started to get to his feet.

For a moment, Sir Harald caught sight of a flash of white in between the trees, but it was gone before he could make out more than that. Still, he knew it was that mysterious draine. He didn't know much about her, as she kept to herself. There were some in the town that even doubted if she truly existed. Though he had never seen her up close, she usually seemed to be keeping an eye on Gahntuar during these training sessions. And like he and Merec had private one-on-one training sessions as well, he knew that Gahntuar was teaching her to fight other dragons as well. Gahntuar, of course, denied that he and the draine were a mated pair, but the old soldier had his doubts. She seemed way too interest in the dark dragon, even though Merec admitted to him that the draine had some grudge against the same drake that had these two so worried. Though what that grudge was about, the young man did not want to say.

Gahntuar's rumbling laughter at something Merec had no doubt been complaining about, drew his attention back to his pupils. There was something that tickled at his mind, something he had been meaning to ask them for a while now.

"Have you ever considered fighting as a team?" the old soldier suddenly asked out of the blue.

"A what?" Gahntuar asked, blinking for a moment at the older human as if trying to decide if he had heard correctly.

"A team." Sir Harald repeated patiently. "Like the Gryphon-Knights that serve the throne of Thendor. They are humans that ride into battle on gryphons..."

"You expect me to wear a saddle?" Gahntuar growled, taking a rather threatening step towards the old soldier. Merec was quickly by the dragon's side, patting the larger creature almost as if to soothe him.

"Ye-es," the older man replied, drawing his reply out a little as he looked a little unsurely at the dragon. "That would be a requirement, I guess. It will just be plain foolish to go without one into battle."

"I'm not wearing a saddle, and that is final!" Gahntuar snarled, though he reminded the older human more of a stubborn child than the dangerous predator he truly was.

"We had this argument before; several times in fact." Merec tried to explain. "We've come to the agreement not to discuss it anymore."

"I was just thinking..." Sir Harald started to say, but Gahntuar interrupted him.

"I'm a dragon, and a friend of Merec!" he declared a little more forceful than needed. "I am not a beast of burden!"

"I did not say you were a beast of burden! Nor that you would be treated as such!" the blademaster snapped in return, forgetting for a moment that he was addressing a dragon. "The gryphons that carry the knights are definitely not, and they wear saddles!"

Gahntuar's nostrils flared in anger and with ears pinned back and crest held high he advanced threateningly on the old soldier. Luckily Merec quickly intervened and stepped in front of the stalking dragon before he could even finish his first step.

"Don't the Gryphon-Knights fight together on the ground as a team as well?" he quickly asked.

"Yes." Sir Harald grumbled, warily keeping an eye on the angry dragon. "They are a single unit, no matter if they are fighting in the sky or on the ground."

"You know, that might actually be useful for when we have to fight against Seghrien!" Merec said as he turned to Gahntuar.

"I told you before..." Gahntuar snarled, turning his irritation back to Merec.

"I'm not talking about fighting together on the wing!" Merec sighed, taking the dragon's snarl in stride. "If we know how to fight alongside each other without getting in each other's way when grounded, we can be very dangerous." He turned to his tutor. "That was what you meant, right?"

"If properly trained, such tactics would make you much more dangerous than you would be individually," Sir Harald agreed.

"And then you don't need to worry about a saddle." Merec teased Gahntuar, who could only huff in defeat. Somehow Merec had learned how to argue a point in such a manner so that the dragon couldn't argue with him.

"Fine, we can try it for a bit at least," the dragon finally gave in.

"Right then, when can we start with the training?" Merec asked, failing to hide the sudden eagerness in his voice.

"I'm afraid I don't have the expertise to teach you those skills." the retired Royal Guard admitted, still a bit unsure about the dragon's mood.

"Then why bring it up in the first place?" Gahntuar asked, still a bit sour.

"I have an old friend from my time in the military that can help us with that." the older man replied. "But I will need to travel several days south to meet her though, and I didn't want to go through the trouble of bringing her up here if you weren't interested."

"I think it might be a good idea to let us at least listen to what this friend of yours has to say," Merec decided as he started to pack up the training equipment.

"Oh, yes. I saw that vixen is back in town," Sir Harald added almost as an afterthought.

"She's back again?" Gahntuar huffed indignantly, a slight growl coloring his tone.

"Really?" Merec asked surprised. Felicity had originally stayed a few weeks in town at first, but when nothing happened she couldn't justify staying around anymore. So she compromised by checking in on the him and Gahntuar from time to time. Though she had attracted a lot of attention, she had managed to keep her motives to herself and till this day no-one even suspected what her interest was in Merec or Gahntuar.

"I'll leave her to you then," Gahntuar grumbled as he stepped away from the two humans to extend his wings in preparation for taking to the wing. "I should go find Lainah anyway." And with that, he jumped into the air and amidst a furious gust of wind, he was off.

"Gahntuar doesn't seem to like her." Sir Harald commented as he watched the dragon fly off.

"She is just rather ... insistent and it gets on his nerves." Merec dismissed the remark as if it was nothing.

"How do you handle him so easily?" the old soldier suddenly asked when the dragon disappeared from sight. "He seems to take offense rather easily and is quick to use his strength to drive his point of view home."

"He doesn't really mean anything by it." Merec smiled as he carefully slung his backpack over his shoulder. The thing was getting rather old and worn from overuse; it might be time to get a new one ... if he could afford it. "Remember that he is a dragon and trying to intimidate those that don't agree with him seems to be a rather instinctual habit. But if you know him as I do, you'll find he actually has a very soft heart."

"If you say so;" Sir Harald muttered, still not convinced. The older man was sure by now the dragon wouldn't have hurt him, but the creature was intimidating and would probably have pinned him to the ground until he apologized for even suggesting he might consider wearing a saddle.

"So you say the vixen is back in town?" Merec asked to change to subject, though a frown betrayed that something about it had him worried. "She is rather early this time. Usually, she wants to visit us once every three months."

"That's not all," Sir Harald added as they turned back towards town. "She has a friend with her this time."

"A friend?" Merec queried.

"Some lupine I've never seen before." the older man elaborated.

"I ... think she mentioned a wolf college of hers some time ago who also wanted to talk to us." Merec replied, vaguely remember something along those lines.

"And you still insist that she is only interested in the friendship between you and your dragon?" Sir Harald asked obviously unconvinced.

"Actually, it's more about Seghrien." Merec replied. The old soldier snorted irritated when Merc didn't want to explain any further.

"Why is it that you are always so vague when it comes to that vixen?" he asked. "Why are she and her ... college so interested in this dragon that has it out for you?"

"It has something to do with about dragons not being able to use magic in the way he could," Merec answered. "I cannot really say a lot about it, it is not my place to comment on the motives of others."

"Fair enough." Sir Harald grumbled, still thinking that there was something the young man was not telling him. "Though, I guess that it does fit in with the rumors that she is a magus."

The blademaster couldn't help but smirk when he noticed Merec's surprise at the news.

"I'm not sure how true it is," he continued, thinking Merec had not been aware of it "but some of the adventurers that passed through town looking for your dragon last time she was here, claim that they caught her in the act of casting a spell ... or molding a spell ... or whatever it is called. Add that to the fact that many of the yellow magi that came to our town suddenly just dropped out of their contracts whenever she spoke to them, also kind of makes people wonder."

"A magus will be very helpful against Seghrien." Merec hazarded.

"True, but I'd be wary of her though." Sir Harald cautioned. "The magi rarely does things without reason."

"I'll keep that in mind then."

***

"Welcome to the rest." Jihni's chirp cut through the commotion in the common room of the Trapper's Rest. As if it was a call for silence, the bustle of people talking hushed down to a quiet hum as the many patrons that were having lunch or just an early drink, considered the newcomer. Merec stepped in as if nothing was amiss, ignoring the interested stares of those that had been around a while and the hushed whispers of those new to town. Luckily for him, there hadn't been another Ballista incident, but the town was somehow even more uncomfortable with him as the dragon managed to remain elusive. Add to that the rumours of a second, white dragon and people became downright worried about a dragon infestation in the mountains to the north.

Merec caught sight of the vixen he came to see immediately. As he approached, she rose from her seat to greet him, not caring in the slightest about what the other patrons thought about it. The wolf who sat with her at the small square table did the same.

"Good to see you, Felicity." Merec greeted her, though he failed to hide the wariness in his voice. She would have another go to try and get him to return to the Amber Tower with her. Something he really wasn't in the mood for now. Though if she had noticed his reluctance, she made sure to keep it to herself.

"Likewise." Felicity greeted him in return, her smile more genuine than Merec's had been. She gestured to the wolf next to her. "This is Adulf."

"So, you are the human that has Felicity's fur all ruffled." the lupine smirked as he shook Merec's hand with a firm grip. "Glad to finally meet you."

"As am I." Merec replied, more out of courtesy than anything else.

The three sat down again and Celine quickly approached them.

"What can I get you?" she asked with a little, forced courtesy.

"Just an ale please," Merec replied with a motion to the other two mugs after quickly counting his remaining coin in his head and considering if he could afford it.

"Wonderfully friendly people, these northern Thendorians." Adulf grumbled as Celine left them without another word.

"You just caught us at a bad time." Merec replied, feeling honour bound to defend his hometown for some reason. "Most of the people here are afraid of the dragon that has settled to the north of town. And they blame me for it."

"You would think that they would have realized by now that the dragon ... Gahntuar is it? … isn't intending to harm them." Adulf muttered as he took another swig of ale.

"You would think so, wouldn't you," Merec muttered angrily, casting a covert glance at a group of dragonslayers that sat close by and were pretending not to try and eavesdrop on their conversation. "Several people have grown used to the dragon by now, but there are always some people who fan the flames of mistrust for their own benefit."

"Still having trouble with the people in town?" Felicity asked worriedly.

"It is not as bad as a year ago." Merec admitted relieved "but the price on the dragon's head has not been withdrawn, and usually I have to shake some group of adventurers or another whenever I want to leave town. It is highly irritating if you ask me. At least that new Alliance of Light have grown bored with me, though I fear their follower seems to have only increased in numbers. There are a few I know in town who is just waiting for me to slip up in some way or another, so that they can call the patrol that was last time here in again."

"Which is why you would be better off returning with me to the Amber Tower," Felicity suggested.

'There it is;' Merec thought with a barely repressed sigh.

"I've told you that I can't do that," Merec grumbled, not looking at Felicity. "There are too many complications ..."

"Which is why we are here." Adulf interrupted him cheerfully. Merec looked around to frown at him, and he was about to explain when Celine return to their table with a mug for Merec. Merec quietly thanked her and paid for his drink.

"I doubt you'll be able to help me with the issues regarding the Amber Tower." Merec grumbled as he took a careful sip of ale.

As Merec drank, Adulf pulled out something wrapped in leather from under the table. After a quick glance around to make sure that those who were pretending not to look at them wouldn't see exactly what he was doing, he pushed the mysterious bundle to Merec.

"What is this?" Merec asked, suddenly intrigued. Putting his mug down, he reached for the bundle, pulling it right in front of him before carefully fold it open. Inside, lay a small ring and something like an oddly bent wand. Adulf leaned over the table to whisper conspiratorially to Merec, as if imparting a great secret.

"After speaking to a white magus friend of mine," Adulf explained "Felicity and I went to explore an old, Golden Age ruin near Serephal in search of these. Apparently they belonged to a rather eccentric magus called Dahrthen who lived there. Apparently, he had visions of the shattering decades before it happened, but no-one ever wanted to take him seriously. The visions and his inability to convince anyone to prepare for it drove him mad and, in the end, he isolated himself in a tower. Most of the ruined tower he built was ransacked during the Dark Age already, but we were lucky enough to find these. We had some serious difficulty smuggling them away from the Varanidae and the Elves alike, so I hope you appreciate the effort we've gone through."

"Would the elves and the lizard-folk really be interested in ... this?" Merec asked, lifting the seriously dented ring up to inspect it closer. It appeared to be a normal ring that should just fit onto one of his fingers. It was made for whatever reason from simple pewter, with small inlays of amber on one side. Though it was badly scratched, he could make out strange little symbols carved into the metal itself.

"For that ring, the elves would probably not be that interested, but the Varanidae are eager collectors of anything magical, even the ring which is really low quality," Adulf admitted. "But I'm thinking that its poor quality works in our favor as it is probably why it was left behind in the Dark Age."

"But what is it?" Merec asked, squinting to see if he could recognize any of the runes as he took another sip of ale.

"Its an evoceather," Felicity replied with a grin wide enough to split her muzzle in two.

"So now you don't have to suck your dragon friend off to attract Mana!" Adulf added with an equally wide grin.

Merec choked on his ale at the comment. As soon as he recovered, he stared indignantly with his mouth agape at Felicity as if she had told everyone a great secret. Felicity on her part glared daggers at the wolf.

"See I told you the two of them were..." Adulf started to say, but Merec recollected himself in time to cut his explanation off.

"I... I don't... " the human started to sputter, but the lupine only waved a dismissive hand at him.

"Look," Adulf smirked, rather enjoying the human's awkwardness of the situation. "Unlike most, I don't care what you and your friends do with each other, as long as you don't invite me to join in. In fact, I find the magical implementation of this much more interesting."

Merec ignored him and look at the ring again, hoping to change the topic.

"How does this work then?" he asked, pretending that his face wasn't as red as he guessed it truly was.

"You just put it on, it will work on its own," Felicity replied as if it was common knownlegde. "As long as it touches your skin, whenever there is Mana in the environment you'll be able to sense and attract it much as you did at the Bloodstorm memorial last year."

"And, you're just giving it to me?" Merec asked skeptically.

"It isn't a very good evoceather," Felicity admitted. "Most magi would find its effect not worth their time."

"Still, why would you just give me this." Merec insisted. "What is in it for you?"

"I was hoping that it will help you reconsider coming with me to the Amber Tower." Felicity admitted.

"And I wouldn't mind having some... well, dragon juice samples to experiment with," Adulf added, his ears suddenly as red as Merec's face had been only moments before.

Merec looked hard at them, then down at the bribes. He wasn't sure how to handle this on such short notice, so jumped at the first thought that popped into his head.

"You understand that I'll need to talk to Gahntuar about it before I decide on anything?" he said. "We have agreed to support each other and he should be part of such a decision."

"Of course." Felicity sighed a bit disappointed but then smiled when, despite his reply, Merec still tried on the ring he was offered.

At first, nothing seemed different. But then Merec eyes widened in surprise when he suddenly noticed the wand. He had completely forgotten about it. Where before it had seemed like an unimpressive bit of bone, it now practically glowed with a surprisingly large reserve of Mana. Though his own supply had dwindled greatly over the past year and a half as he played with the Mana, or on rare occasions used that single spell he knew to light a candle, it had never been this bright. Gingerly, as if afraid that the section of bone could burn him, he lifted it up to inspect more closely. To his own surprise, he found that he had to fight the sudden desire to draw the fresh supply of Mana into himself in order to replenish his own dwindling reserves.

Instead, he decided to focus on the wand itself. He had been correct to assume that it was made of bone, but it was unlike any bone he knew. For a moment he thought it might be some kind of rib, but it was too weirdly round and twisted and he noticed that it seemed to have a kind of groove along one side. The bone seemed at odds with the fine silver banding around half of the 16-inch length of bone, the strands coming together to combine in what can only be described as a small sphere at the very tip.

"What is this?" Merec asked, failing to keep the awe he felt from his voice.

"That is a cuplaether ... a receptacle to store Mana for later use if you like," Felicity explained with a smirk. "It is not as effective as your own body, so any Mana it contains will slowly evaporate over time."

"But it's a powerful one I might add." Adulf cut in. "When we searched the ruins, we were only hoping to find a weak evoceather like that ring, but this wand was truly is a great find. And I must admit I wouldn't have minded keeping it for myself. But it clearly goes with the ring and Felicity doesn't want to leave any trail that traces the ring back to us." The wolf sounded upset by this as if the two magi had been arguing about it the entire way to the peninsula.

"How powerful is this ... cuplaether ?" Merec asked, wondering if the vixen's insistence that the ring and wand remain together wasn't also an attempt to bribe him in following her to the Amber Tower.

"Most magi will give anything to possess it," she admitted a little shyly, confirming Merec's suspension somewhat. "And despite their ideals of honor, the elves would probably have killed to get their hands on it, had they known it still existed; That despite what it is made of."

"Even though the ring is such poor quality?" Merec asked surprised, to which Felicity nodded a little bit too eagerly. Merec noticed that the sphere at the tip consisted of two halves that could open. But when he opened it, he was disappointed to find it was empty.

"That is a storage space for a bit of crystalline Aether, to enhance the capacity of the wand," Felicity added excitedly. "Any magical enchanted object with that kind of feature is very rare and are usually only owned by council members or very powerful and rich magi."

"What bone is this?" Merec asked, more to steer the conversation away from Felicity's obvious attempts to persuade him to take the gifts.

"That is a ... um ..." Felicity suddenly faltered, blushing profusely.

"It's a dragon's baculum." Adulf quickly interjected, obviously amused at the vixen's sudden awkwardness. For his part, Merec's hands froze, and he almost dropped the wand.

"You mean this is ... a dragon's penis bone?" he asked more than a little shocked at the revelation.

"Yea," Felicity muttered shyly.

"Why is it then draped with silver like this ... to make it less weird?" Merec asked, turning the wand over to show off the fine elegant silver strands.

"No, the metal has an important role to play in the enchantment." she quickly said, glad to escape the awkwardness of the object in discussion. "All organic materials are very corrosive to Mana, so any enchantments need some form of non-organic material into which the spell can be woven. But the organic material is also important as something to focus the Mana with, or in the case of the wand to store the Mana in. For instance, the pewter of your ring contains the spell while the amber focuses the Mana for you."

"Right," Merec replied carefully, still turning the wand around as if inspecting it better.

"Welcome to the rest!" Jinhi called, uncaring to who listened. Idly,

Merec glanced over at the door, more out of habit than true curiosity about who it was that entered the common room. To his surprise, he saw a lioness there, talking to another fox as she scanned the room. She was wearing an elegant red dress that did not seem to belong in the dirt roads of their small town. Strangely enough, the fox that was with her was also dressed in a red vest that seemed equally out of place. Both of the newcomers held themselves aloof of the rabble in the inn, and for a moment he could see that her eyes betrayed her true dissatisfaction with being here of all places. Yet, despite their I'm-far-better-than-anyone-in-a-thousand-mile-radius demeanor, Merec felt his warning bells start to toll. They were obviously here to try their hand at hunting Gahntuar and something warned him that they shouldn't be underestimated. It might be best to stay out of town for a couple of...

Their gazes locked for a moment and as her eyes lit up with a flash of triumph, Merec experienced a moment of cold panic as he realized that they were not here for the dragon, but for him. Though what they could want with him, Merec was not sure. Before he could do anything, she determinedly started to walk over to their table, leaving her companion by the door.

"What for the love of Thelma, is she doing here?" Felicity hissed, her sudden outburst not helping Merec's sudden panic in any way.

"You are quite hard to find, do you know that Merec of Currumwhell!" the lioness announced in an unnecessarily loud voice, stressing the last part as if it had been a secret that had been kept from her. Something she did not approve of in the slightest. Merec cursed inwardly at lioness as dead silence fell over the whole inn and all eyes turned to them, no one even attempting to hide their sudden interest.

"You two know each other?" Felicity hissed before the lioness reached them, sounding shocked and somehow upset at the same time.

"I don't recall ..." he started to say as the lioness reached them, but then he suddenly did remember where he had seen her before. "We met briefly in Therral more than a year ago."

"You were quite courteous back then, I might add." Adarah agreed as she took the last chair by their table without asking permission to do so. "So imagine my surprise when I had to discover that you are not part of the Circle of Five as I originally thought!"

Merec didn't have to look around the room to know that people were becoming fidgety by that deceleration. Merec glared at her with unveiled anger, realizing that the whole town will know of this before sundown. For her part, Adarah barely acknowledged that she had done anything wrong other than seeming to be very satisfied with herself.

But her smugness suddenly evaporated when her gaze landed on the charms on the table before him.

"Oh, those explain much!" she exclaimed, her eyes suddenly alight with interest and desire. "Is that really ... the wand of Dahrthen? I thought it was destroyed in the Shattering." She reached out to grasp it, but Merec quickly pulled it away from her reach. For good measure he removed the ring as well, placing it back with the wand and fold leather closed.

"So that is why the yellow magus here is so interested in you." Adarah continued without missing a beat as if she was not denied having a great toy. She turned to Felicity. "Congratulations are in order, I think. For once you have caught me completely by surprise and beaten me to a truly great find. Although, why you had broken the law of the Circle of Five by teaching him how to use magic seems a bit excessive."

The sudden attack on Felicity irritated an already furious Merec and he reacted before he could think about it.

" Let me remind you that you also played a part in teaching me, as you put it." he hissed. He would only later cringe a little as he realized too late that he had just admitted to having knowledge of the use of magic. Adarah did not recognize her small victory. Instead, her eyes flashing angrily as she turned to regard Merec.

"I didn't know you were a wild magus." she snarled defensively, and Merec knew he had touched a nerve.

"So you're the only one who is allowed to claim ignorance," he growled, leaning back a little to regard her. "Must be awfully convenient in a pinch."

"I..." Adarah hesitated, suddenly at a loss for words. Then her eyes fell to the bundle of leather just in front of the annoying human.

"If you are not going to turn yourself over to the Circle of Five, you will have to give those to me." She declared, deciding to rely on that age-old myth that the best defense is offense. "You are not allowed to have them."

"The bloodstorm treaty does not forbid anyone from owning enchanted objects." Adulf suddenly spoke up, calm and collected as if he was explaining to a youngster how to pitch a tent.

"And who are you, druid?" the lioness snapped angrily.

"Someone who is right." Adulf replied nonchalantly as if not intimidated by the lioness staring him down. "No-one can force him to give up what is his, and you know it."

For a moment it seemed like the lioness was about to strangle the wolf. Merec decided it was past time to end this meeting.

"Look," he snarled, as he angrily gathered up the leather bundle and started to stand up. "Just like I told these two, the situation is complicated and I haven't made any decision on the matter yet."

"Because of that dragon that follows you around?" Somehow, the room became even quieter. "Yes, I've heard of this dragon you are associated with all the way to Lendor. Interesting coincidence then, don't you think, that there were dragons fighting each other outside Tharral just when you were there. Dragons they were never seen before, and never again. And to top it off, one of them matches the description of the one often seen here."

If Merec was angry before, he was furious now.

"I know that dragon of yours fits into this somehow," Adarah continued with a smirk, realizing she was getting to the human. "I'm just not sure how. But believe me, I'll find out."

Merec lost it. He whirled around to point a finger in face her, much to her amusement.

"There are forces at play here that you will find very unpleasant if you are not careful." he hissed at her. "So I advise you not to go kicking the hornet's nest."

Fuming like he had never been before, Merec grabbed his stuff and leaving a half-filled mug still on the table, stormed outside.

"I won't be so patient about this as these two obviously have been." AdarH's condescending voice drifted after him as he made his way to the door. "I'll give you until tomorrow morning to make a decision. If you don't pledge yourself to the Circle of Five by then, I'll take those charms with force, whatever these two may say about it be damned!"

***

Merec burst from the inn, feeling the need to scream his frustration away. He barely contained himself as it were, kicking at a loose cobblestone just as he reached what passed as the town's main street. A sudden cramp in his hand made him realize that he was clenching the bundle of leather so hard that his knuckles were becoming white. With surprising effort, he forced his hand to relax.

The door to the inn opened noisily behind him and he whirled about angrily, expecting it to be Adarah. Instead, it was an equally furious Felicity that came stomping out of the building. She marched up to him, thrusting a finger in his face much like he had done to Adarah.

"And when were you going to tell me that you spoke to a red magus?" she snarled at him.

"Slipped my mind." he grumbled, caught a bit by surprise by her sudden accusation.

"Damn it human, this is serious!" she snapped, causing Merec's temper to flare again.

"And I assume you're happy about this turn of events." he snapped right back at her. "Now my stay in town will be completely intolerable, maybe even dangerous." For once, he was glad that his mother had passed away just before the winter and didn't have to have this revelationdropped on her.

"Enough!" Adulf commanded, raising his voice for the first time. "We are all angry, so let's just take a moment to calm down before we continue this conversation!"

Merec never heard him follow them outside, but he turned to scowl at the wolf that somehow was the only one to keep his cool in the situation.

"Did she have to announce everything to the entire inn?" he growled at the wolf.

"That is red magi for you:" Adulf replied calmly, taking the human's comment in stride. "Tactless, accusatory and always demanding things are done their way."

"Do you know shapes that will strangle someone?" Merec muttered rhetorically. The lupine's levelheadedness was seeming to help to calm his frustration a little.

"Those are illegal... " Felicity started to say, having taken him seriously as she also had considered the option. But Merec quickly cut her off.

"I meant it as a figure of speech." he sighed, shuddering a little at the thought of Manashapes that could kill outright. He inhaled deeply and released his breath in a long deep sigh. As the air left him, his temper seemed to cool even more and clarity started to return.

"I'm sorry for my outburst." Merec finally said when he felt he was calm enough to trust his own judgment. "And I'm sorry for not telling you. I didn't think I'd ever see her again, and with Seghrien appearing, I completely forgot about meeting her."

Felicity was still worked up. With a low growl, she thrust her finger at Merec again.

"That lioness is dangerous news. Now you listen ..." she started to say but was interrupted when the door to the inn burst open once more. The small group turned to see that it was Kael who had followed them outside. For a moment he was relieved to see that they had not disappeared yet. But his relief quickly evaporated when he locked gazes with Merec.

"Is it true, Merec?" he demanded immediately. "Are you a magus?"

"Well, as that bitch inside pointed out, I'm not." Merec sneered, surprising himself that he was not as calm as he had thought. Kael blinked a bit at the venom in his reply, before completely contrary to the situation he grinned widely.

"Come now, Merec, don't talk about her like that!" he replied as his barkeep habits kicked in. "She's completely the wrong species."

All three of them blinked at the innkeeper as if he had lost his mind. Then, Adulf burst out laughing, and the tension between the group was broken completely.

"But seriously though," Kael finally had to ask as the laughter started to die down. "I remember when we were just boys playing at adventuring in the forest; you always claimed you would one day get one of the travelling magi to teach you a magic trick or two." He cast a meaningful glance at Felicity. "So did you manage it? Can you use magic?"

"No." Merec snapped defensively, but then caught himself. "Well, sort of. I've picked up a spell, but only one ... and not a big one either."

Kael frowned at the news he obviously did not want to hear, but otherwise took it in stride.

"And the dragon? Does he fit into this Circle of Five business you are caught up in as well?" Kael's mood dropped as Merec suddenly refused to look at him. "I know no-one ever asked you directly about the dragon, not even me. I guess it is probably because we are all too afraid of the answer. But with this new development, I have to know."

Merec was silent for a moment longer. Long ago after a bad misunderstanding, he and his old friend had made a promise not to lie to each other, and he didn't want to start again now. But Kael had asked him directly and even silence would be an answer, albeit an imprecise one. It would be better to lay the cards on the table as it were. Yet, he was about to answer when they were interrupted by a sharp kaw from above. As one, the four of them look up to see the town's resident phoenix sitting on the fascia of the inn, regarding their argument with interest.

"Is that the phoenix that has been seen around town the past year?" Felicity asked a little taken aback by the bird's sudden appearance. She had heard of the phoenix from several sources, but when she had failed to catch sight of it, she had assumed that it was purposefully avoiding her and had given up hope.

"Yes," Kael sighed, annoyed that his conversation with Merec had been interrupted. "But it only talks about the town burning down and that everyone must unite to put out the blaze. It has been saying that for months now, yet nothing happens. The people around town have stopped paying it much thought after a while."

As if insulted by the revelation, the phoenix cawed angrily at them.

"He is coming!" the phoenix suddenly declared, much to all of his spectators' astonishment.

"Well, that's ... new ..." Kael muttered with a frown, the question of Merec's dragon forgotten for the time being.

"Who is coming?" Felicity asked a little more forcefully than intended as she stepped closer to the phoenix.

"He is coming." the phoenix repeated. Before anyone could complain about the new cryptic message, there was a woosh of feathers and everyone's surprise, a second phoenix suddenly joined the first. With soft chirps and squeaks, the two birds greeted each other and the original phoenix began to groom the newcomer, completely ignoring the crowd gawking at them.

"Wait, there ... there's more than one?" Kael gasped worriedly, his confrontation with Merec completely forgotten. "This may be worrisome!" he muttered and without a word quickly headed back inside.

"Do you think he" Merec indicated to the pair of phoenixes that were ignoring them completely "means ... Seghrien?"

"Is that the mythical drake that can cast spells?" Adulf asked a little skeptical, only to receive a painful jab with an elbow to the ribs.

"It is a real drake" she scolded him.

"There has been no other reports of that drake of yours." Adulf insisted. "And why would he be interested in the town itself anyway. This phoenix has been talking to the whole town, right? Not just you and your drake?"

"I agree with Adulf here" Felicity said as she turned to the worried human. "Not even a dragon will be foolish enough to attack a whole town just to settle some unknown grudge with a rival, even for a bloodfued. They will rather wait for a better opportunity to strike; dragons are said to live just over three hundred years you know."

"I guess," Merec muttered, not sounding convinced as he looked up at the two phoenixes. "But their presence still worries me."

"At least there is not five of them." Adulf smirked.

"There hadn't been a recorded sighting of more than three phoenixes together since the end of the Dark Age." Felicity snorted unamused. "What could possibly happen here in the far north of the Garbanan that would interest them enough to congregate in large numbers?"

"Why else would they be here?" Merec queried, still uncomfortable.

"Passing through?" Adulf suggested, not really sounding convinced. "One might even be following you or Gahntuar around." When Merec only snorted at the thought, he continued. "I'm serious: how many humans have dragon companions. Especially those who discovered that sucking off ..."

"I'm hardly the stuff heroes are made of." Merec interrupted the lupine before he could finish that thought. Then, with a sigh, he added "But I still need to talk to Gahntuar about what happened here anyway. I'll be seeing you later then."

"Bye then," Felicity greeted him. "Hope to hear from you soon."

***

Gahntuar finally caught up with Lainah on a little precipice, where she was laying down comfortably and seemingly asleep. But the constant twitching of her tail betrayed the was still fully awake and even a little irritated.

"How was your playtime with the humans?" she grumbled just as Gahntuar folded his wings closed.

"Great, thanks for asking," he smirked, stepping closer to where she lay. Yet he held his distance, knowing better than to overstep his boundaries. Boundaries that had been diminishing over the past few months. A few feet away from her, which was as close to her as he dared at this time, the drake sat down to silently regard her. She tried to hold to her usual act of being a heartless draine, but the more he interacted with her, the more he came to see through the shell she had built around her. He had come to see her as a frightened, lonely draine who had cast all of the love for her slain family into a burning hate at the one who destroyed them. And as time moved on, she was now clinging to that hate with a single-minded determination, as if it was the only thing she thought that was still solid in her life. She should cry, he knew. She should mourn her lost family. But still she refused to and though he admired her endurance, it saddened him to see how it was slowly killing her soul. And the worst of it was that there was nothing he could do for her, other than to silently be there for her and, he guessed, to prepare her for her quest as best he could.

Suddenly, that all to familiar desire to pin her to the ground and to rut her overcame him again, and with a little difficulty he managed to squash the thought. True she was his brother mate, and he had tried to keep a respectful distance. But he found himself desperate for the touch of another dragon. She was after all the first draine, the first dragon, in fact, other than Seghrien he had seen since fleeing the Melgolas some four decades ago. That was enough time to raise a clutch and have a second almost ready to leave the nest.

"How was the hunt?" he forced himself to ask, hoping to hide the fact that he was shuffling a little away from her.

"Waste of time," she grumbled, still not looking at him. "Something is scaring off the prey."

That was probably part of what was agitating her, Gahntuar decided. But having a bad hunting day, or week for that matter was part of dragon life and he doubted it was the only thing troubling her. For a moment he wondered why she was still here. She continued to claim that she was merely waiting for Seghrien to attack him, but her patience should have run out long ago. Seghrien was obviously not desperate enough for vengeance to seek him out here on the peninsula.

Could it be that she enjoyed his company? But he squashed that hopeful thought as well. That thought was only hatched from his rising carnal desire for her. It might be a good idea to move, to do something that would distract him from the heat in his groin.

"Do you want to spar again for a bit?" he asked a little absentmindedly. She always considered it preparation for her confrontation with Seghrien and was always eager to get some practice in.

"Not today;" she sighed, much to Gahntuar's surprise.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, rising again and stepping closer to her again before he could catch himself.

At the question, Lainah snapped her head up angrily to glare at the drake.

"What are you doing here still?" she demanded from him with an angry hiss.

"What do you mean?" Gahntuar asked a little stunned, taking a step back.

"I mean why don't you go seek the murderer of your siblings out there." she snarled, flaring her crest to give weight to her accusation. "Did you not love them?"

"How dare you!" Gahntuar snarled back, his crest flaring in a furious display that was intimidating enough to make Lainah flinch. "I loved them both very much, and there is nothing I'd like more than to see Seghrien pay for what he has done. But I am not going to let him to determine what I do with my life."

"But you allow the human to tell you what to do." she snapped, though her wilting crest betrayed that she knew she was going too far.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Gahntuar demanded again.

"Why stay here for him?" Lainah growled.

"I stay with him because I want to," Gahntuar growled, stepping right up to her to drive his point home. "Not because I have to."

"Then prove it." Lainah insisted, not backing down. "Let's just leave the peninsula and go search for that murderer together."

"So, to prove that I don't take orders from anyone, I have to take orders from ... you?" Gahntuar growled with a forced smirk. Lainah blinked at the accusation. Then she suddenly could not hold his gaze and had to look away from him, her crest tucked firmly down in shame.

"I guess you have a point. Sorry," she mumbled, looking at her claws as she kneaded a patch of spring grass. For his part, Gahntuar blinked in surprise at the apology. It was a very offhand apology, but it was the first time she had ever offered one and he felt his anger evaporate.

"Merec isn't the one holding me back" he admitted, settling down right next to her. He flinched slightly when he noted their flanks touching, but he dared not step away from her least he break the fragile truce that seemed to have come over them. "In fact, he had already insisted he would come with me whenever I decided to leave in search of Seghrien." He took a sigh before admitting his own feelings on the subject. "But the truth is that ... I am scared. Seghrien had soundly defeated me every time we have met before. And I only escaped each time because I was lucky. So Merec and I plan to learn how to fight as a team, to make it as difficult as possible for Seghrien to oppose us before we go seeking him out. I guess that is the real reason why I haven't gone seeking vengeance for my family. I don't think we are ready for him yet."

Lainah nodded her head in agreement to Gahntuar's logic, even though she felt it was a waste of time to continue preparing.

"So, what are you still doing here?" Gahntuar asked, playfully poking her with a snout on the wing shoulder.

Lainah snorted at the question in indignation. "You claim that you, my tutor, are not ready to face him yet. So why ask me that?"

"Fair point," Gahntuar agreed with a bob of his head. "I just found it strange that you have not tried to get me to leave the peninsula before today. In fact, why not leave the peninsula on your own? I have taught you everything I knew about fighting other dragons months ago, and what we are learning now is something completely different."

"Are you sending me away?" she smirked, looking at him with a rare smile on her snout.

"No!" he quickly interjected. "I ... I like your company. I mean I ... I was only wondering, that's all."

Lainah smiled at the drake falling over his own words. But then, she hesitated before she could answer his original question. How could she tell him that she had come to like him and had considered it obvious that they would fight the red accursed drake together.

"I wouldn't know where to even start to search for him." she finally said, falling back to her usual explanation. "If I stay with you, I know at least where he will strike at one point or another."

Gahntuar snorted amused and turned to face away from her in an attempt to hide a sudden smirk he struggled to contain. He could hear it in her voice that even she was not convinced of her own motives anymore. Though it was progressing slowly, he was finally starting to make progress in getting through to her.

"And what about you?" Lainah suddenly countered. "Why do you put up with me? What is it that you want from me?"

Gahntuar frowned at the question he had avoided thinking about: Why hadn't he chased her off yet? Indeed, why was he helping her at all? She had never allowed him to come close to her, even though it was obvious that she was desperate for a tender touch.

"To be happy." he finally decided, more to himself than to her. "I want you to start living again."

"I am fine... " she started to say with an indignant snort, but he interrupted her with a nip to the shoulder, much to the surprise of both dragons.

"No you are not!" he stated firmly before she could gather her thoughts and respond to him stepping so boldly over the boundaries. "I agree that I may not have lost my mate or my eggs, but I've lost dear friends to war myself. I've lived with the very same feelings that you have right now, and looking back I can now see they were poisoning my life. Instead of confronting my guilt and shame, I fled to the Thirstlands where I stayed for well over thirty seasons!" He yanked his head away, refusing to look at her. "It was only when I met Merec that I started to really live again. Now let me at least try to help you."

"You are showing me how to fight," Lainah remarked dryly.

"I mean, help you see that life is still worth living." Gahntuar insisted, turning to face her. The seriousness in his eyes sent chills down the draine's back and she turned her gaze away with a tired sigh. Was he truly concerned about her like he claimed? Most likely! Though he had obviously his own personality, he was so much like Jenour that it actually hurt her just to speak to him.

She nearly yelped in surprise when his one wing settled over her back and she could feel the strong flight-fingers pull her in for a hug.

"Just, tell me what is wrong," he whispered. When she did not object to the hug, he tentatively reached a snout towards her. When she still did not object, he touched the soft scales beneath her jaw in what he hoped was a comforting nuzzle. But as he inhaled, he caught her scent. She was not in heat by any stretch of the imagination, but she was still so alluringly female. Something he had not experienced in decades.

He cursed the sudden warmth in his groin. He should get up and walk away before he did something he would regret, for he doubted he would be able to contain himself for long. But for the first time since he knew her, Lainah sighed and leaned into his touch. Surprised, Gahntuar pulled back a little. But he dared not leave her now, not when she was finally opening up like this. Tentatively, he resumed his nuzzling of her neck with more determination. Slowly nuzzles turned to licks and he gradually worked his way up, from her neck, past her jaw, behind her ear, over her cheek.

Suddenly a raw sob escaped her.

"I miss them so much!" she whined as she leaned hard against his shoulder.

"I know," Gahntuar whispered, daring to lick at the little crest in an attempt to comfort her. She was on the verge of tears, but still, she was fighting them back. Still, Gahntuar considered it progress, albeit only a little. The thought flooded him with a sense of relief.

"But I can't ... cry," she whimpered. "Not yet!"

"You can cry!" he insisted. "And you must."

"I don't know if I can let them go," she admitted, pressing her face into the crook of his neck as if to escape the world.

"Letting go doesn't mean abandoning all your memories of them." Gahntuar crooned, grateful for her willingness to finally confide in him. He nuzzled the top of her head. "In fact, don't ever forget them. But don't let those memories get them in the way of experiencing happiness now. I know Jenour would have wanted you to be happy."

Lainah nuzzled deeper into his embrace and for a time seemed that she finally started to relax a bit.

"I'll be here for you, whenever you need me," he promised her softly.

"Just, hold me for a bit," she begged and he replied with a soft croon.

He complied with a firm hug of his wing, even though he practically had to bite his tongue to remain in control of himself. As he held her close, he could no longer deny that his slit was practically burning with need. He even imagined that he could already feel the tip of his shaft peeking out.

Again he reminded himself that he should get up and cool off, and take the frustration he was feeling now out on Merec tonight. But she was finally opening up to him and though he was not sure how he had to help her.

For a long while, they remained like that. But then, his one forepaw seemed to move on its own accord, curling over her shoulders. This was taking it too far and he pulled back.

"Please, don't leave me." Lainah whimpered and she rolled over onto her side to press her back firmly against his chest. Hesitantly, Gahntuar settled his raised paw on her shoulders and pulled her into a firm hug. She didn't object; in fact, she shifted a bit to settle herself comfortably against him.

Gahntuar resumed licking her crest, which progressed to nibbling on the hard scales on the back of her neck. Her tail writhed like an agitated snake across his thigh until quite suddenly, it found his own and possessively started to curl around it.

Gahntuar moaned as he gave in and allowed his painful hard phallus to spill free.

"I am here for you," he whispered.

"Please, I ... I need ..." she started to say, but her breathing was short and she seemed unable to complete her sentence. She looked around at him with the need to be loved, to be cared for shining in her eyes.

"I know..." Gahntuar admitted, leaning towards her. Their lips met for a brief moment before their tongues touched. The drooling tip of his member slipped up against her inner thigh and they both moaned excitedly.

It was not the most natural of mating poses, but right now it didn't matter. Just like he needed her, he suddenly understood that she needed him. She needed someone to show her that she was not alone, there was still someone who cared about her.

And he wasn't about to...

"He is coming!" a voice suddenly interrupted their moment. The two dragons blinked up in surprise at the Phoenix sitting in a nearby tree, watching them with an interested gleam in its eyes.

"What?" Gahntuar asked, completely taken aback.

"He is coming!" the Phoenix repeated.

"Finally!" Lainah snarled. Without even acknowledging what had almost happened between her and Gahntuar, she wriggled from the drake's grasp and whirled on the bird. The lonely, sad draine Gahntuar wanted to soothe was gone and the hard, angry draine he knew was back.

"Where is he?" she snarled at the phoenix.

"He is com..."

"Where?" she interrupted the bird.

"He comes from the north!" the Phoenix quickly admitted, flinching away from the angry snap of the draine's jaws.

Without another word, Lainah twisted about and with a mighty flap of her wings, she took flight.

Gahntuar stared more than a little upset after her as she disappeared towards the northern mountains. Then with a frustrated sigh, he turned to regard the phoenix.

"Do you have any idea what you just interrupted?" he growled in the most intimidating tone he could muster.

The phoenix didn't answer, though it at least had the decency to look a little bashful. With a grunt, Gahntuar turned his attention back to where Lainah had disappeared. Now that his blood had started to cool, he was suddenly worried about his actions just now: Was she was angry with him; Had he really wanted what was best for her, or had he tried to take advantage of her?

Gahntuar turned his gaze back to regard the bird again. Might it have been for the best to have been interrupted? He had heard about the town's visiting phoenix from Merec a few times before, but he had never thought the creature would actually seek him out.

"You know," he addressed the bird still with a growl to his voice. "I hope for your sake that it is Seghrien who is coming, or she is going to have grilled phoenix for breakfast."

Even as he spoke, Gahntuar suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. What if it was indeed Seghrien who finally decided to wait no longer for his quarry to leave the peninsula? But then again, why would this phoenix give him a warning now, when he had never received one that Seghrien was coming for him before?

But he also knew enough about the mysterious birds that a phoenix's warning should never be ignored. Maybe it might be best to talk to Merec about what just happened. With a grunt, the black drake got to his feet.

"Are you coming?" he asked the Phoenix half-heartedly over one shoulder. Without even waiting for a reply he took fight himself, heading south towards town.

***

Felicity bit at her lip in a vain attempt to stifle a lustful moan as Adulf's penis rubbed at just the right spot in her pussy. Adulf wasn't as careful though and huffed loudly each time he pushed back in, undoing her attempts at remaining unnoticed. But her struggling seemed to be of little worth, as they had been at it for a while now and there was still no sign that anyone heard ... or cared.

Then Felicity lost the battle to remain quiet herself and she gave a loud gasp as she felt Adulf's knot brush up against her lips. It was already bigger than she thought it should be and she somehow just knew that within only moments it would be too big to enter her. This was quickly followed by the realization that the wolf busy mating her was holding back and not planning on tying her. That just wouldn't do!

She curled her legs around the lupine's waist and held him fast against her. Adulf paused to look at her inquisitively.

"Are you... sure?" he asked, a little out of breath with both excitement and exertion.

"Don't ask stupid questions and just tie me already!" she growled dangerously.

With an eager smirk, Adulf pushed forward hard. Felicity's pussy strained around his knot, but he failed to push inside. He snarled as he pulled back and with another hard push, the knot popped inside. Felicity ceased caring about being quiet and wailed loudly as she came. Adulf tried to hump two or three times more, but then followed suit. He snarled delightedly as he started to squirt his seed deep inside her. They held still for a blissful moment, the world and its troubles forgotten and unimportant.

Then, slowly, the world came back into focus. Adulf sighed contentedly and looked down at the vixen with a smile, his eyes still shining with the delight of afterglow. She smiled back up at him as he started to roll hips again, even though he is stuck fast inside her.

"That was great, Fel." he sighed, his voice still a little hoarse with pleasure. "We definitely need to do it more often."

"That could be arranged," Felicity smirked as she leaned back into the mattress. "You just need to get out of that tower of yours more often."

Adulf stopped his slow movements and leaned down to rest the side of his head on Felicity's chest.

"I don't think I'm nearly brave enough for that," he admitted with a huff. "I'm a green magus, Fel. Not a yellow or red. I won't be of any use in a real challenge."

"Not even for me?" Felicity queried jokingly as she traced her fingers through the coarse fur on his shoulders. Adulf chuckled at that.

"You drive a hard bargain, you know that?" he asked, just before he rolled her over onto her side so that they lay there, side by side.

"Honestly, I think you are too hard on yourself." Felicity chided him with a playful tap on his snout. "I think that you did great in Serephal. And I know you well enough to know that you will do anything to help your friends in any situation. I would rather have you at my back than some other green!"

"You really know how to cheer me up" he smiled as he leaned towards her. She eagerly closed the gap, and their lips locked together in a passionate kiss. Their tongues wrestled for a moment before Felicity broke it to hug her lover with a contented sigh.

"What the?" Adulf suddenly yelped and tried to pull back, but his penis was still held firmly inside of his mate. The sudden panic made Felicity also jump and try to pull away before she had the sense to look over Adulf's shoulder at what had given him such a fright. Only to see a Phoenix sitting on the window sill, watching them curiously.

"How long have you been watching us?" she demanded indignantly. The annoying bird did not answer. It just clicked its beak as if annoyed at being caught and wordlessly flew off.

"Bloody bird," Adulf grumbled, resettling himself comfortably. "I've heard that phoenixes has a liking for voyeurism... but I never thought I'd be the one being spied on."

At the wolf's indignant complaining, Felicity suddenly started to giggle. It was infectious and Adulf soon found himself joining in her mirth. But as she settled down again, her smile faded and she leaned into his embrace with a rather upset sigh.

"Just ignore the bird" Adulf suggested, rubbing her back soothingly, "It's gone anyway."

"It's not that" she admitted after a moment's hesitation.

"What's wrong then?" the wolf asked worriedly.

"I'm ... I'm just worried about the human," she admitted.

"You know, most males don't appreciate talking about other men right after sex." he joked after an over exaggerated snort of indignation. For which he received a well-deserved tap on his snout from Felicity.

"I didn't mean it like that!" she smirked, rubbing the spot she had just hit in soothing circles as her mate whined playfully. "And I really appreciate your efforts to cheer me up, it really did help." She sighed again as she considered how to explain. "It is just that I can't stop thinking about him and the trouble Adarah may have caused for him," Felicity growled angrily at the thought of that lioness. "Does she even give a damn about anything other than her precious Coral Tower?"

"What happened is now done," Adulf said as he rubbed her back to calm her down. "There is no use in lamenting the choices of others. We are only responsible for our own decisions."

"But still..." she started to argue, but he hushed her with a gentle finger on her muzzle.

"But nothing" he insisted. "The torch is now in the human's paws, what he decides to do is up to him." Adulf regarded her worried expression for a moment. "Why is it that you care about him so much? What is it that you didn't tell me?"

Felicity hesitated, but then with ears splayed back shamefully, she admitted her worries.

"Shortly before I left my apprenticeship at the Ivory Tower in favor of one at the Amber Tower, Eldar Cirene saught me out," she admitted.

"Eldar Cirene?" Adulf asked a little shocked. "That eccentric equine magus who somehow managed to achieve a seat on the Ivory Tower's council?"

"The same one." Felicity agreed. "You know she had a gift of foresight?"

"Which was not very reliable, as I have heard." Adulf snorted. Felicity ignored the accusation.

"She approached me to tell me that she approved of my decision to rather become a yellow magus before I had even fully decided to commit to it myself." she insisted. Then with a sigh as if for strength, she continued. "I never told this to anyone, but she warned me that one day I would meet an unlikely pair; then she insisted that I had to promise to guide them back to the Amber Tower, for destiny weighed heavily on them. That is the reason why I escorted the crippled draine and her bovine healer friend back to the Tower shortly after I graduated."

"The one that started the rumor that the Umbrin Dragons were hunting the offspring of Lunintur?" Adulf asked surprised, but then he smirked. "Wait, that was you?"

"Yeah," she muttered as she glanced away to hide her blush. "I thought they were the ones Eldar Cirene meant."

"But you were wrong and now you think that it is this human and his dragon that Eldar Cirene had referred to?" Adulf asked. He sighed when Felicity only nodded. "You cannot make decisions for them."

She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I guess you're right," she muttered, obviously not very satisfied with the situation. "But I..."

"I said, 'No buts', remember?" he interrupted her, lifting her chin up so that they could look into each other's eyes. Then he smirked devilishly. "The only 'but' I'm interested in is your butt! Now, no more talk about that lioness or the human or even any of the towers as long as we are together in bed, deal?"

"Deal;" Felicity agreed half-heartedly, before, with a naughty smirk of her own, she rolled over. In the same movement she pushed the startled Adulf onto his back, she straddled his hips. "But only if I can be the one on top this round." she grinned down at the wolf beneath her.

"Right now?" Adulf whimpered, a little stunned at the sudden change in the vixen's attitude. "I don't know if I can have another go right now. I mean, we haven't even separated yet ..."

"Oh, I know from experience that you have a shape or two that will come in handy ..." she replied, her grin never faltering. Adulf whimpered softly as she started to roll her hips, but still, he could not resist grabbing her haunches eagerly.

"You are insatiable." he grinned back up at her.

"I thought you knew that by now!"

***

Merec was a little winded when he finally reached the hunting cabin he called home for the past two years. Though it didn't seem like it, it was a long and decent climb from the town down the river . And following the disastrous meeting at the Trapper's Rest, he had hurried home quicker than he usually did. He reached the porch and leaned against one of the supports that kept the roof up to catch his breath. As he stood there, he berated himself for overreacting a little bit. There was no reason to have practically jogged uphill; He should have remembered that Gahntuar would most likely be with Lainah now, and there was no way he could know where to go searching...

"You're home early!" Gahntuar suddenly commented from the shadows behind the hut, smirking when his human almost fell over with fright. "I expected you would be with that vixen for most of the day."

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Merec snapped angrily, making the dragon hum in delight. Merec tried to glare at the amused dragon but found the big creature's mirth too contagious and he started to chuckle as well. But then with a cough to clear his throat, he became serious again. "Actually, I needed to talk to you urgently."

Gahntuar's mirth evaporated immediately and he felt cold tendrils of worry spread across his chest.

"What's wrong?" he asked, recalling the Phoenix's warning. Merec took a deep breath to calm himself down a bit before he answered.

"Something happened in town today," he admitted. "There was a magus in town today that pretty much told everyone that I can wield magic ... and that you have some role to play in it."

"How did he know?" Gahntuar growled angrily.

"She." Merec corrected him with a guilty glance at the dragon. "I ran into her when we were last away from the peninsula and ... she caught me practicing that shape Felicity gave me."

"And you didn't tell me?" Gahntuar growled, now angry at the human.

"I completely forgot about her before today! Seghrien was a more pressing matter." Merec apologized with a soothing rub to the dragon's scaled snout. "Look, I'm really sorry about it, but I've already been lectured about it from Felicity and I'm not in a mood to hear the same from someone else."

Gahntuar snorted upset but decided that there was no point in arguing about it. Merec's reason for not telling him seemed plausible enough and he definitely didn't want to be echoing anything that vixen may have told him. Finally, he only huffed annoyed and settled for "How much does she know?"

"She is only guessing most of it, but she is uncomfortably close to the truth," Merec admitted with a sigh, relieved that Gahntuar wasn't also going to be given him an earful of not telling him about the lioness. "At least, she doesn't suspect a thing about how close our friendship truly is."

"So, she doesn't know that we mate each other?" Gahntuar mused, more to himself than reality asking Merec's opinion. But then he did turn to the human. "So ... what does it mean for us?"

"I ... didn't handle it properly." Merec sighed, obviously ashamed of himself. "I fear that most of the progress we have made towards the town accepting you may be gone. Humans don't mistrust magic quite as severely as the leonae or the bovidae, but it is not accepted easily either. I'm really considering leaving the peninsula altogether and going to the Amber... "

" I thought we agreed long ago that the Amber Tower is not an option." Gahntuar interrupted him with a snort." As bad as it could get here, what do you think will happen when ... what is that?"

"Gifts from Felicity," Merec replied, folding the bundle of leather open just as Gahntuar was getting worked up about the possibility of going to the Amber Tower. "She thought it would persuade us to go with her."

"That is a lot of Mana." Gahntuar commented, nosing at the wand. "How ..."

"This, apparently, is a charm that stores Mana like water in a waterskin," Merec said, flinching a bit as Gahntuar's tongue flicked experimentally out to taste the bone. "However," the human added quickly "the bone it is crafted from is from a dragon's ..."

Gahntuar interrupted him with an angry growl and quickly pulled back. He ignored the cuplaether completely after that, focusing rather on the other object in the package.

"And that?" he asked interested ly. "It doesn't glow with Mana like the other one, but I can still feel that it is magical."

"It is an evocaether" Merec replied, but hesitated before explaining further. "So... that I can have an acceptable explanation for why I can attark Mana once we reach the Amber Tower."

"But why would she..." Gahntuar started to argue, but then fell silent as understanding set in. "She knows." he merely stated.

Merec sighed a little defeated before he replied. "A green magus friend of hers figured it out some time ago." Then with a smirk, he added: "Apparently, this magus is also eager to try some of your... samples."

"Will she be collecting the samples herself?" Gahntuar grinned, much to Merec's amusement.

"He, " he corrected with a chuckle "and I don't know."

They laughed for a bit at the thought of Gahntuar being milked for reagents. But then, Gahntuar fell silent, eying the two objects on the a scrap of leather.

"So, what do you think about all this?" he asked seriously.

"I don't know," Merec admitted worriedly. "There will be no going back if we start this journey. But after what happened today, I'm really considering taking Felicity up on her offer."

"And what if I don't want to go to the Amber Tower?" Gahntuar asked. "What about that teamwork training your tutor mentioned this morning?"

"I don't know, but I do know that I'm not planning on going anywhere without you!" Merec stated firmly. "If we go, we go together. If not, we stay together."

Gahntuar smiled, suddenly feeling warmth spread through his chest.

"If you think it is for the best," he said, reaching his snout toward Merec "I will join you."

Merec was about to thank him, but Gahntuar interrupted him with a heavy lick across the human's face. Merec meeped in surprise at the sudden kiss but quickly accepted it. Eagerly, he kissed the dragon back, gently caressing the sensitive scales below the strong jaw affectionately. They continued to kiss until the flap of feathered wings and a by now familiar kaw interrupted their moment.

"Oh, yeah" Gahntuar muttered, more than a little upset and trying to ignore the heat that has returned to his loins. "I wanted to tell you, I seemed to have made a new friend."

Gahntuar glared at the new arrival as the Phoenix started to groom itself, pretending to be uninterested in the two below his tree. Merec sighed in relief, the sound escaping him a little louder than the intended.

"So, he has been following you around?" he confirmed, thinking of Adulf's opinion regarding the sudden arrival of the phoenixes. "That, at least, is a little good news. For a moment I thought it was another one."

"Well, I wouldn't really say he is following me around yet," Gahntuar admitted a little awkwardly. "I only saw him this morning, shortly after I left you and that toothpick wielding teacher of yours."

"Wait, are you saying he's been with you since morning?" Merec asked, that cold feeling of dread returning.

"More or less, why?" Gahntuar asked. Somehow, he was picking up on the human's worry and it was starting to affect him as well.

"I saw two in town just an hour ago." Merec replied as if that answered the dragon's question.

"So, there are three of them," Gahntuar replied dismissively. "What is the big deal then?"

"Well, it is rare to see one Phoenix, let alone two." Merec started to explain. "But phoenixes are known to congregate where something major is about to happen, usually something that is nothing good." He considered the bird again; it couldn't be a coincidence that Adarah had to confirm what the town had suspected for so long, the very same morning as when three phoenixes decided to come to town. It made him almost nauseous with worry.

"It might be a good idea to leave earlier than later." he finally decided. "But I need to let Felicity know ... and Master Harald ... do you know where Lainah is?"

"She flew off north to find whomever 'He' is," Gahntuar muttered with a shake of his snout towards the north. "The phoenix claims that..."

"I know, I know: 'he is coming'" Merec interrupted him. To his mind, it only confirmed the need to be away before he got the whole town into trouble. Even though he had been all but ostracize by them, that was a fate he would not wish upon them. "I think you better go find her before something happens to her ... I have a real ly bad feeling about this!"

"Do you think it is Seghrien?" Gahntuar asked as he turned towards the north. How was he going to explain leaving the peninsula just as her quarry finally came for him?

"I can't shake the feeling that it is," Merec admitted. "Even though nothing of this makes any sense. Meet up with you back here by sunset?"

"You plan on leaving during the night?" the dragon asked surprised.

"Not if I can help it," Merec admitted, "but let's first see what happens."

"See you later then," Gahntuar replied, unfurling his wings in preparation. "And Merec, stay safe."

"You two." Merec smiled and with that, the dragon leaped into the sky. The human watched the dragon disappear from sight, and his smile turned into a frown. He turned to regard the hut he had called home and a strange sense of melancholy overcame him as if he knew that this was the last time he would see his father's cabin again.

With a snort he dispelled the strange feeling; it would not do to allow his imagination to run wild with him. Chances were that he was overreacting and all of this was about something else. Still, he made sure to grab his usual gear before he traveled down towards the town once more.

Just in case there was no time later.

***

'It is strange that one doesn't consider the flow of time unless there was not enough of it.' Merec mused as the town came into view. Despite rushing back downhill, it was already well into the afternoon when he finally approached the northern gate. He was usually not in town this time of day and for a moment he wondered if he would ever be able to reach the cabin by sunset. He will just have to make it quick and hope that there were no complications.

Like the gryphon drake purposefully striding towards him with a dangerous gleam in his eyes.

"Halt!" the gryphon commanded with over exaggerated authority. "Who goes there?"

"Aesu, it's me." Merec sighed, glaring at the young gryphon. He was still very much a raw recruit, eager to learn from and especially prove himself to Iago.

"The shadow-cohort?" Aesu growled, clicking his beak threateningly at Merec.

"I am not in liege with Barathrum, and you know it!" Merec growled in return, trying not to be intimidated by the overeager guard. The human guard who was on duty along with Aesu stepped closer to see what the problem was but kept his distance once he recognized Merec as well.

"Yet, you have a dragon that follows you everywhere..." the gryphon challenged him. "And don't dare to deny it, I've heard that there is a witness!"

"News travels quickly," Merec grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Then with a sigh, he looked Aesu straight in the eyes. Not the best idea as the gryphon may take it as a challenge, but the human hoped it would convey the truth of what he said. "Look, I don't have time for this. I just need to speak to Sir Harald and then I'll be off."

"And what if I refuse you entry?" Aesu growled, narrowing his own eyes threateningly.

"You can not bar my entry into town." Merec retorted.

"We can if you pose a threat to the town." the human guard interjected. Merec glared at him.

"And what threat have I ever posed to town in all the years I've lived here?" he demanded.

"I've heard that you are a magus." Aesu snarled. "Who knows what you have..."

"And weren't gryphons once sworn to protect magi?" Merec interrupted him as he turned angrily on the gryphon.

"I..." the young gryphon started to protest, but his argument fell flat even as he thought of it. Most gryphons consider their loyalty to the magi after the Second Witch War, and then towards the humans after the Shattering a point of great honor. Even now there were many gryphons still in the service of the Circle of Five. Merec had a point, and there was nothing he could say to contradict it.

But Merec did not leave it there. With the gryphon still trying to find a comeback, he rounded on his human companion.

"And if you have a real accusation against me, why not take me to the mayor's quarters?" he asked, knowing full well that such an action would only irritate the mayor.

The human guard hesitated, before finally relenting.

"I'll be done before you know it," Merec promised as the guard stepped aside for him.

Merec hurried through the gate, hoping to get this done with quickly. He knew where to find the two magi, but Sir Harald might be more tricky to find. He just hoped that the old sword master was at home. He had barely passed through the gate and rounded the first corner before he ran into his tutor.

"Merec?" Sir Harald gasped surprised, but then a shadow seemed to cross his eyes and Merec knew that he had already heard. "Is it true what I've heard?"

"Some of it I suppose," Merec admitted with a sigh. "But you know how rumors can lose track of the truth." He had really hoped to be able to explain it to his tutor before word of it reached him, but he should have known better. He just hoped that what Sir Harald had heard wasn't a too distorted version of the truth.

" So you are saying that you can cast magic?" Sir Harald asked.

"A little bit," Merec admitted, not looking his tutor in the eyes.

"And when were you planning on telling me?" Sir Harald snapped angrily. "Why even learn to use a sword in the first place, if you can just throw a fireball?"

"Because it wasn't of any consequence," Merec answered quickly, finally looking up at his tutor "and it was supposed to remain of no consequence. I didn't think I'd have ever learned to use it properly, and what I do know is not of any real use." Merec sighed with frustration. "But that choice seems to have been taken away from me."

"So that was what the vixen was really after?" Sir Harald grumbled.

"Yes;" Merec admitted. "But I did not lie about her interest in Seghrien. In fact, I think she is more concerned about that drake than we are."

"And how does Gahntuar fit into all of this?" Sir Harald asked a little more gently. Merec frowned for a moment at the sudden change in the older man's demeanor, but then realized that his tutor wasn't angry that he could use magic, but that he had not confided in him.

"I'm not sure yet." Merec lied. Though he trusted the sword master, that was one secret he planned to keep from the old man.

"So, what are you planning to do now?" the sword master asked. "I assume there was a reason you came to find me at this time of day."

"I've decided to leave town for good," Merec admitted, finding it suddenly surprisingly hard to say. "I'll be traveling with the vixen to the Amber Tower."

As if on cue, he noticed the vixen and her lupine companion appear from the Trapper's Resthead. The wolf noticed him and the two of them started to head his way.

"Leave?" Sir Harald asked, truly surprised. "Isn't that a bit extreme? And what about the new training we discussed this morning?" Suddenly, that shadow of irritation fell over his expression again. "It's that vixen's doing, isn't it. Let me talk to her and..."

"It is more than that," Merec admitted. "I don't think I can handle a fresh wave of condescension from the town, and the lioness that started this will be looking for trouble if she doesn't get her way."

"So you are running away?" Sir Harald asked with a raised eyebrow.

"To be honest as well, the appearance of the phoenixes are scaring me," Merec admitted.

"First of all, it is just one phoenix ..." Sir Harald started to say with an exasperated sigh.

"I know of at least three around town!" Merec insisted quickly just as the two magi reached them. "And each one of them is saying that 'he' is coming."

"Three?" Sir Harald gasped, shocked.

"This again?" Adulf sighed, having obviously only caught a bit of the conversation. "Look, it doesn't make sense for one dragon to attack any town, just to settle an old family feud. You are working yourself up for nothing. "

"I know," Merec grumbled. "I keep telling myself that, but I can't shake the feeling of dread that had been building since this morning."

"You are just tense after what happened in the Trapper's Rest." Adulf continued patiently. "You'll see, nothing will come from..."

The sudden and by now well known sharp caw from a phoenix interrupted him.

"I know, I know: He is coming." Merec sighed exasperated, glaring up at the Phoenix. "So, if it is not Seghrien, then would you please..."

"He has come." the Phoenix replied calmly. Merec was still blinking up at the Phoenix, trying to decide if he had heard correctly when the warning bell by the northern gate suddenly started to toll.

"Healer!" Aesu, the gryphon who had tried to bar Merec from entering the town only minutes ago, screeched frantically as he flew overhead. "Quickly, get a healer to the gate!"

Sir Harald was first to recover from the sudden fright and he rushed off to see what was happening at the gate. Merec followed in hot pursuit, with the wolf right behind him. They reached the gate, to find the human guard kneeling by some therianthrope that had collapsed by the side of the road.

The creature resembled some kind of antelope, but with two straight horns, about 16 inches long, it was one Merec had never even heard of described before. It was mostly covered by a light brownish-gray fur, though it had a striking white face with black markings across the bridge of the snout.

But the most worrisome thing about the newcomer was the hard to miss black-fletched arrow that stuck out from the stranger's back.

"Great Nixoruma!" Merec swore, stunned. Adulf on the other hand, was quick to react and he pushed past Merec who had only been staring. Without a word, the wolf kneeled next to the antelope and waving his hands about quickly, he formed a quick restoration shape. The strange creature gasped and came to as the Manashape settled into its body.

"Easy there, you're safe!" Adulf whispered, laying a paw on the injured therianthrope when it tried to get up.

"They ... they are coming ..." the stranger gasped in a raspy, though obviously male voice. "I... must warn..."

"Don't talk now!" Adulf insisted, already molding another shape.

"Dear Thelma!" Felicity gasped as she joined them. "This is ... I never thought I'd have ever seen one of them ..."

"Do you know what that is?" Merec whispered, not taking his eyes off the scene before him.

"I ... I believe that is an oryx!" Felicity replied after a short hesitation as if she could not believe it herself. "They are rumored to live in the very deep heartland of the Thirstlands. But they are so secretive that, until now, they were considered only myths."

Aesu suddenly returned, carrying a human healer on his back. The gryphon hissed at the green magus, but the human female just gave him a reprimanding thwack on his chest.

"None of that now!" she commanded in a frail voice that seemed at odds with the authority it contained. "I'll gladly take any help I can get." Without blinking an eye, she turned to Adulf. "What have you already done, druid?"

"Only a slight revitalization, to give him strength," Adulf replied with an air of professionalism that seemed to impress those that had already gathered at the gate. "And I just completed a spell to help congeal the blood, so that we can remove the arrow."

"Thank you, dear." the healer replied kindly. "I'll handle the arrow itself. But can you please remain nearby though? I most likely will need your help still."

"Of course." Adulf agreed, rising to give the healer space to work.

"Please ... listen..." the stranger gasped when he noticed the healer kneeling next to him. Again, he tried to rise. "They ... they are ... coming ..."

"Easy now, deary," the healer crooned at him as she helped him to lay down again. "You can speak later."

"Let him speak" Sir Harald suddenly interrupted her as he also knelt down next to the oryx. "Who is coming," he asked, ignoring the angry stare from the healer.

"Orcs ... thousands ... of them ... over the mountains!" the oryx gasped.

"Great Nixoruma!" Merec swore, stepping closer as well. "What about a dragon?" The obvious worry in his voice made many of those who had gathered there stare surprised at him. But the stranger had fainted again, the strength he had received from Adulf's spell exhausted.

"But, orcs can't travel in the sunlight." someone in the crowd suddenly called out.

"During the Golden Age that was the case." Adarah, who had also arrived to see what the commotion was about, confirmed loudly. "But they have adapted to this environment long ago. These days, they are not as sensitive to the natural forces of this world."

"Garvon be near!" Adulf swore.

"What?" Felicity demanded. The wolf was usually very calm and collected, and to hear him frighten like that made her worry.

"The phoenixes!" he whispered, pointing back to the town. Everyone in the small crowd around them turned and gasped. There, sitting alone or in pairs to the city walls, were several phoenixes, curiously watching the spectacle as if it was a play being performed.

Six in total.

"'But woe the place with five or more, for there the blood, like rain will pour.'" Sir Harald quoted the old nursing rhyme that had been the talking point in town ever since the first Phoenix arrived. He turned his gaze towards the north, towards the mountains over which this army of orcs was said to be coming. There, dotted across the northern horizon and stretching towards both the east and west, where wisps of smoke already rising into the air, each column signaling a hunting cabin or farmstead already set to the torch.

The fires that the phoenix had warned about for months now, had finally come.

... to be continued.