They spent a lot of time over dinner, talking, Brisse telling them 
about her day, then she had him take her to see Tymor.  Though he 
wanted to stay, when she asked to spend some time alone with the 
little queen he nodded and moved off.

"I'll be back in a little while," he threw over his shoulder as he 
walked away. 

He was glad in a way, for he had been thinking about what she had 
said about him nephew My'kle. It was kind of hard to believe that 
the boy had been so rude to her, it just wasn't like him at all. 
What could have gotten into him. 

Yes... he find the boy in the morning and find out what was going 
on. It just wouldn't do for the boy to get above himself now that 
he was a dragonrider. If anything that privilege should have made 
the boy more tolerant of other's. My'kle just didn't seem the type 
to let it go to his head.

Then his thoughts turned back to his sister and the crazy bet she 
had made with B'rand. The man must be crazy, Dan'yar smiled. Didn't 
he have any sense? Didn't he realize that he had no chance at all 
of winning this sword fight with Lenna? It was all he, himself 
could do to end their matches in a drawl half the time.

Well it might do the young man some good. If he survived Lenna 
ordering him around for a week without killing her... maybe this 
thing between them had a chance of working out.

When he figured that he had allowed Brisse plenty of time alone 
with young Tymor, Dan'yar turned back towards where he had left 
her and soon came upon her in the arms of another man.

"Brisse?  Oh!" He let his surprise show in his eyes, when the two 
of them turned to face him. The young man face was red as he 
quickly released her.

"Dan'yar, D'ren and I were just... talking..." she said.

Dan'yar nodded, somewhat amused, but he kept the smile from his 
face. He learned enough about Brisse over the last couple of weeks 
to know the hug wasn't anything he should be concerned over. But he 
let them see the question in his blue eyes and waited for them to 
explain.

Brisse looked helplessly at D'ren.  He started to speak when there 
was a cry.

They turned as one.  There was movement toward the south end of the 
warren.

Something was happening and he needed to find out what it was, he 
turned back to face his love, wanting to make sure she was out of 
the way just in case there was some kind of trouble. "Stay here," 
both men instructed her at once, heading in that direction.

******

When they got there, the guard pointed south.  They could see a 
column of smoke and fire on the horizon.

"Isn't that where the Nomad encampment was?" someone asked.

<<Shinner, has anyone gone to investigate yet?>> Dan'yar sent the 
silent thought to his dragon as he stood with the others watching 
the billows of smoke growing blacker and thicker.

<Not as of yet,> came the reply seconds later.

D'ren and Dan'yar watched the column of smoke curling into the 
evening sky, and as a small crowd gathered, Dan'yar said, "I'm 
calling some riders, and we'll go check it out."

<<Put out the call to our Wing,>> the tall blond gave the order. 
<<Tell the dragons to have their rider's ready and waiting on the 
green when we get there. Have them come prepared because we don't 
know what we'll be facing.>>

"Be careful, sir.", D'ren replied.

"We'll try," Dan'yar nodded his thanks as he turned to head towards 
his own dragon. As he was leaving he heard the other man raising 
his voice to be heard above the crowd, giving orders to some of 
those standing by watching, to arm themselves and meet him back 
at the gate. He was relieved, and pleased by the man's quick 
response. 

*******
(Lenna)

The water in the tub was final cooling off when Lenna lifted up out 
of the tub she'd been soaking in for the last half hour. She had 
been a little surprised when her brother had called their patrol a 
little short, but didn't argue at all. The extra time allotted 
would give her plenty of time to get herself cleaned up and into 
something pretty before B'rand came back form his patrol with 
Lonnie.

There was suppost to be music being played tonight in the hall and 
she had been hoping B'rand would want to take her. She felt a 
little like dancing. Only tonight she planed on saving all her 
dances for B'rand. 

As she moved to her closet and began going through the party type 
dresses she had there, the call to report came through.

<Forget about doing the tango tonight my human,> Blanchie informed 
her. <There's smoke on the horizon and Shinner's rider is calling 
everyone to report and assemble on the green.>

Smoke!! She thought as her hands pulled out a riding outfit instead 
of the dress she had decided on and began to hurriedly dress. 
<<Where's the smoke coming from?>>

<From where we found Tymor's rider.> Came the answer, then.. <Rook 
asks if we know about the fire,> and Lenna could hear Blanchie 
telling her as she finished dressing and was reaching for her 
weapons. <I told him we did and that we would meet him on the 
green.> 

<<Good,>> Lenna replied, hoping this time B'rand wouldn't worry 
so much about her and concentrate on the job at hand. 
<<Let's go.>>

---------- 
(Dan'yar)
 
By the time he had remounted Shinner and the two had made the 
short trip to the green, Dan'yar was pleased to note that his 
Wing had all assembled and were ready to go. He'd paired the 
new female rider he'd been sent with R'bert, knowing the young 
man would help her if she needed it and then with finally 
instruction relayed to him from  J'errid, Dan'yar gave the 
signal for his Wing to rise, seconds later they blinked out 
of the skies over the Warren and into the air above the Nomad 
encampment.

What met them there was utter chaos. Through the flames and 
smoke they could barely make out the outlines of people running 
around in a near panic, and charred remains of what looked like 
bodies on the ground. It took him a moment to realizes that it 
was the sight of the dragons in the sky that was causing their 
reaction, but still he gave the order to land. They had to see 
what could be done to put out the fires, and do what they could 
for any of the wounded people they could see.

Dan'yar took a good look around as they began their decent. What 
he saw shocked him beyond words. He could see scorch marks 
throughout the area and smelled  the acidity scent of dragon's 
fire wafted up to his nose and wondered about it, then remembered 
what Brisse had told him about the dragonriders who had shown up 
while she was still in the camp. Who were they, and were they 
responsible for this destruction? 

As a team they landed and everyone quickly went to work to try 
and put out the fire. Those with medical training when to help 
those they could and give mercy to those beyond help. It seemed 
like hours later  when they finally got the fire under control 
and could take their first good look around.

"Dear Gods!" he thought as his eyes took in the scene  that 
greeted them. 'No one deserved for this to happen to them. Not 
even the people who had kidnapped his beloved Brisse.' 

His eyes fell on the new female rider, Nelar, he remembered, 
the girl Lonnie said had just transferred in from Telnor, and 
saw several of the less injured Nomads gather around her. A small 
child stepped forward and he could see her lips moving  and the 
puzzled expression that came over the riders face. He began 
moving towards them.

A woman stepped forth from the crowd. "She ask....You kill her 
mother?"

Nelar was shocked.  "Oh no child.  Of course not.  We are here 
to help
you."  

 Dan'yar grew near as the woman translated and the child just 
nodded slowly and then walked away. Gently lay his arm on Nelar's 
shoulder, and with out words between then, asked that he be 
allowed to continue talking to the woman. Nelar nodded and 
stepped away. She watched as Dan'yar, through an interpreter, 
tried to find out what happened.......

The story he was told angered him. Rouge Dragons. No wonder these 
people were scared. The sight of a flaming dragon would be enough 
to send any sane person into a deep fear.

It was one of the worst nightmares a Warren Rider had, of pitting 
dragon against dragon. Something would have to be done before it 
could come to that.

The Warrenlady had to be notified.

He turned back to the woman who had been talking for the Nomad 
people and asked who the elder of those remaining would be.
"Who is in charge here? Who leads your people?" 

She looked at him and frowned. "One who led... taken to where 
dragons live... new leader ..." her words failed her as tears 
came to her eyes and she turned away. It was a minute before 
she could go on. "Leader dead... family dead... no one leads"

He had to fight to control the rage building up inside of him as 
he faced her, he reached out, placed his hands on her shoulders 
and when she looked up into his eyes, said, "You have my promise 
that no more of your people will die. The Warren will make sure 
of that and are here to help you and your people. We will find 
those who did this to you village and they will be made to pay."

Something in the tone of his voice, or maybe his gentle touch, got 
through to the woman who nodded her head. When minutes later fresh 
Wings of dragons and their riders' teleported into the air above 
them, Dan'yar told the woman she didn't have to be afraid. 

<They've come to relieve us who are exhausted and will stay until 
morning to watch over the area.> Shinner told him, relaying the 
message from the Wingleaders dragon. <We are to go home and report 
what we have found here to Syren's rider, the Warrenlady. She 
awaits us.>

"These dragon's come from where I do," he assured her. "They have 
come to help. They will be here to protect you for the rest of the 
night." 

He took her hand and led her over to one of the newly arrived 
riders. His brother Farr'in and his partner Ta'kar and made them 
known to her. 

"This man I trust with my life. He will see that no harm comes to 
you. I give you my word of honor," the tall blond said. "If you 
need to see me for anything more, go to Farr'in and he will make 
sure I will be informed." With that said he called his Wing 
together and when everyone was ready he gave the signal to head 
for home. 

********
(Lenna)

She watched with the rest of the riders as her brother moved up 
to stand beside that girl rider and the Nomad woman. Lenna had 
heard the question asked by the little girl and the answered 
denial from the rider. 'Poor girl,' she thought. I'll bet the 
rider will go to bed tonight hearing that same question over and 
over and over before sleep finally hits her.

Moving up beside her, Lenna placed her hand in the small of 
Nelar's back to get the girls attention. "It's not your fault," 
she said quietly so the others around them couldn't hear. "You 
didn't kill her mother, the Warren riders didn't kill her mother. 
So don't let it get to you. Don't let it drive you crazy with 
thoughts 'what if?'. There was nothing you could have done to 
stop this from happening. Just take heart in knowing how much 
you helped these people tonight and feel good about that."

"Thank you," the girl said softly, casting a sideways glance at 
the tall blond girl. "I'll try to remember that."

The two of them shared a smile of understanding, and then Lenna 
felt B'rand's arm come around her she turned back to face him. 
His face, as she knew her own to be, was blackened by the soot 
and ash but even the grim couldn't hide the beautiful amber in 
his eyes. 

"Ready to go home love?" he asked, pointing upwards towards the 
new Wings arriving.

"Oh yes," she answered. "Home, bath, and then bed for a week."

"In that order?" he smiled.

"Uh huh, but I could use someone to scrub my back," 

"Only if you return the favor," he replied.

"You got yourself a deal handsome."

--------------------------------------
nrpg: I didn't do anything with the rouge riders 'cause I didn't 
want to mess up any plans you might have....(Lyn :) but I 
couldn't resist having Dan'yar make the promise...after all the 
Warren is there to help these people. I also didn't know what 
you might want to do with the woman who speaks Dragonland speak... 
so I left her there with Farr'in who Dan'yar trusts...until you 
decide what to do with her.

****Submitted by: ******

Barbara (a.k.a.

Dan'yar & Shinner
Lenna & Blanchie

Cleft Warren