{Morning}

Verdanth climbed gently as he flew south.  He followed the river
downstream away from Cleft Warren.

*We're not out here for a lazy afternoon flight,* T'by thought to his
dragon, *we've actually get to Keldarra today.*

<I know that, but there really doesn't seem to be any real hurry,>
Verdanth replied.

*I just want to get this over with.*

<Is it my fault that you don't get along with your family?>

*No, but Cynthia would like us to get this done some time today.*

Verdanth sighed mentally, <Ok, I'm ready to teleport.>

The rolling hills around Cleft dissapeared, and were replaced by the
rugged mountains of Keldarra.

***
[Syren]

She had never panicked before, but she was on the verge.  Cynthia had
just killed Voger's rider, and dissapeared into a cave.  She mourned
forher offspring, but she also feared for her rider and her own life.

The emotion was not something she liked.  She decided that she could
either wait with the fear building inside her, or she could do
something.

The former was not an option.  She reached out with her mind and felt
the other dragons in the area.  Unlike other Queens, most of the other
dragons at Cleft were not her offspring, but their presence was
comforting to her anyway.  She also felt someone else.

Syren unfurled her wings and pushed off the ground.  She glided to the
edge of the cliff and perched there, looking down.  At the base of the
cliff was a woman and a dog.

The dog sensed her and barked twice.  Then he laid his ears back and
growled up at her.  The woman looked up, and her eyes suddenly got very
wide.

Syren launched herself from the cliff edge.  The woman turned to run,
but Syren easily caught her and lifted her up.  Syren flew with Ani
grasped firmly, but gently in her from claws toward the cave Cynthia had
dissapeared into.

***
[T'by]

"Tobias?"

T'by's shoulders sagged and he stopped in the corridor.  With a sigh he
turned around, "Good day, Mother."

She gathered him into a strong embrace, "By the gods, I'd sware you've
grown a couple of inches since I last saw you."

He stepped back, "I doubt it."

"Well, this is unexpected.  Did you come for a visit?"

"No, Mother, I'm here to deliver a message to the Dragonlady for
Cynthia."

"You will stay for supper?  Your father and brothers and sisters will be
so happy to see you."

"I doubt it," T'by shrugged, "I have to bring the reply back to Cleft."

"You know Tobias, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you're not
happy to see me."

"Of course not, Mother, it's just that Cynthia trusted me to deliver her
message and return with the reply, and it's important to me that I do."

"I understand.  If your father taught you anything, it was to keep your
word.  Run along tobias and remember to visit soon."

Tobias almost hugged his mother for letting him go, but instead nodded
and hurried down the hall.

***
[Dreamscape]

Cynthia swung her staff in a wide arc.  He stepped back and parried with
his sword.  He stepped forward and thrust.  Cynthia moved the staff
across her body, knocking the sword thrust wide.

Her advantage was speed, he couldn't move very quickly in the bulky
armor.  His advantages were skill and stamina.  Despite the bulk of the
armor he was still moving easily.  Cynthia was breathing heavy and her
arms were beginning to ache.

Soon, she thought, it will be over.  Either way it would be over.

***
[T'by]

The Dragonlady sat looking at the paper, staring at the neatly printed
letter.  T'by estimated that she had sat looking long enough to read the
text 4 times.

It was hard to keep from fidgeting.  He had finished reading the letter
several minutes before, and he was reading upside down.  He began to
read it again, wondering if he'd missed some subtle turn of phrase that
Christalla had picked up.

"Well, T'by, it seems we have a bit of a problem," Christalla said,
startling T'by.

"We do, Ma'am?" he replied.  He cursed himself for sounding stupid.

"Yes.  Tymor had laid a fine clutch of eggs and Cynthia sent me this
note to let me know.  That way I could assemble a group of candidates to
send to the hatching."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"But you knew that part from reading the note.  The probelm is that I'm
not willing to send her a lot of candidates like I did for Syren's
clutch.  When she took on the challenge of running a new warren, she
knew that she'd have to look for candidates from among the nomad
tribes."

"But, Ma'am, there has been very little contact with the nomads," T'by
said more forcefully than he intended.

"I'm aware of that, and this would be a good time to expand Cleft's
relationship with them.  You're a searcher, aren't you?" Christalla
asked.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Then this is an opportunity for you to search.  I'm sure that the
nomads will be as excited about the possibility of joining as the land
bound here are.  If you'll wait a few moments, I'll draft a reply."

T'by nodded.  In his mind, this trip had turned out to be a disaster. 
He'd run into his mother who still insisted on using his hideous name,
and Christalla was only going to supply a fraction of the candidates
Cynthia desired.  Could it get any worse?

***
[Dreamscape]

Cynthia could feel her strength waning.  He pressed the attack, and she
was forced to fall back.  She was barely able  to react fast enough to
parry his sword thrusts, and soon she wouldn't be to do that.

Sh'e never see the sun rise over Cleft Warren, her warren, again.  She
momentarily thought of Brisse, and of how much she had already endured. 
She had done remarkably well for one so young.

Then, on the verge of despair, she felt something, or someone reach out
to her from the darkness.

NRPG:

I'm sorry that this was so long in coming.  I've spent a fair amount of
time this past week preparing for next weekend's Indy trip.  I also had
to get my application in the mail for the first part of the PE exam.

Speaking of next weekend:  I won't be around.  Don't think this means
you shouldn't post.  Fill my mailbox.  I'll catch up.

Holly:  TAG!!  I really don't have a specific ending in mind, but I do
want to wrap this up.  You can take it as far as you'd like.  If you
want to leave me some finishing up to do, feel free.

Laura: I'd like a bio from you to send out to the group.  Please get me
one.  I've begun setting up the plot line we discussed.  If you have a
couple of intro posts that you'd like to get out, please feel free to do
so.

Respectfully submitted,
Warrenlady Cynthia - Cleft Warren
Alton Reich
-- 
			Alton & Elizabeth Reich
			  alton.reich@snet.net
"Ani l'dodi, v'dodi li - I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine"
--The Song of Songs