The massive queen shifted position, sending a spray on warm sand in 
Isara's direction.  This time the cascade of sand fell short, but Isara 
had not been so lucky other times.  The beast enjoyed going out of her 
way to make the girl miserable.  It was a game for Zelandreth, something 
to help the long hours watching her eggs pass a little more quickly.  
Wary of the dragons short temper, Isara decided to put a few more feet 
between her and the queen.  

Smoothing out the sand in front of her Isara used a small work knife to 
draw simple patterns in the sand.  For thousandth time she wondered why 
she had been chosen.  Her mind wandered back to the first day she had 
ever seen her new gods.  She had been riding, working one of her fathers 
young horses.  The skittish mount had balked at dropping down the river 
bank.  She cursed herself for not listening to the creature.  Instead 
she had forced it down onto the beach.  What she found there sickened 
her.  The tattered remains of... of something...  flung about.  Her 
horse had grown more and more difficult to handle.   Finally it bolted, 
right into Shamir's waiting jaws.  In the chaos the insued, Isara had 
been thrown from her horse.  

     Never before that moment had she ever felt the mind numbing fear 
that overwhelmed her when she saw that black head snaking towards her.  
Even now, as she lay in the warm hatching sand, the memory of the 
blazing red eyes made her shiver.  As the dark beast had prepared to 
strike something had changed within her.  A burning heat coursed through 
her body and she felt herself lashing out, not with her body but with 
something else...  All around the dry grass erupted into flames, and she 
sank into uncounciousness.

     That was when it had all started, but what had happened after that 
still confused her.  She had awoken to find what appeared to be a man 
knealing over her.  His words shocked and frightened her more than a 
thousand raging dragons.  That Khazeen and Shamir walked the land turned 
her insides into a ball of ice, but the fact that they had chosen her to 
serve them...   

She was still in a daze when Khazeen had helped her onto Shamir's back.  
She remembered little of the flight, and her memory was not aided by the 
fact that she kept her eyes tightly shut the entire time.

It was not until they dropped from the sky that she opened her eyes.  
The suddenness of their descent had started her.  The reason, she had  
assumed, was the flight of dragos the surrounded them.  Not
until coming to this place had she ever seen so many dragons.  They all 
seemed to be chasing a single larger dragon.  Later, she had learned 
that the events she had witnessed had been a mating flight.   A mating 
flight that Shamir had won, after he had deposited his riders on the 
ground.  The mating flight that had resulted in the eggs that now rested 
in the warm sand.  

The strangest part about the mating flight had not been the
dragons lust, for that was to be expected.  It was Khazeen's reaction to 
the flight that had puzzled her.  The distant look, the way he
trembled as Shamir finally caught the queen.  It was almost as though he 
too, were winning the queen.  She shook the thoughts from her head.  Who 
knew what went on in the minds of the gods?   Who wanted to know?

Just when it had seemed that day could get no stranger, it had. 
For when the flight was over and the dragons had returned Khazeen
'spoke' to the queen dragon.  They conversed for sometime, thought what 
was said Isara had could only guess.  But when they were finish Khazeen 
announced that the queen, Zelandreth, was to be Isara's.  That she would 
tell anyone who asked that she was the queens rider.    

In the short time she had spent with her Lord she had learned much.  
Khazeen was not as harsh or cruel as she had first thought.  True 
failure was swiftly punished, but he could be quite generous with his 
rewards.  His excentric behavior could be exscused, after all he was a 
god.  The god that would soon bring peace to her people.  Bringing them 
together would end the futile warring between tribes.  She had seen many 
young men lose their lives to petty differences and silly arguments.  
Khazeen would end all that.  As for driving away the outsiders...  Isara 
was not sure that the outsiders were evil, but if her Lord said they 
were, she would not argue with him.    

A menacing hiss pulled her from her thoughts.  Zelandreth's
threatening display was directed at the cave's entrance, this time.  Her 
lord entered the cavern, and she hurried to great him. 

>Isara hurried forward and knelt on one knee before him. 
>     "My Lord Khazeen," she said quietly.  "How may I serve
you?"
>
>     "You may rise," he said, then gestured for Isara to follow him out 
>of the hatching cavern.  She did so obediantly, as always, for no 
>Nomad would ever defy the will of the gods...or those whom they 
>believed to be gods.  When they were a short distance down the 
>hallway, he turned to her.  "How is Zelandreth behaving herself?" >he 
asked.

>     Isara rubbed her hands together nervously.  "She becomes more >and 
more difficult to manage," she replied.  "As the eggs come
>nearer to hatching, her temper grows ever shorter.  My Lord, I know >I 
have no right to question you, but...will you tell me how long this
>must continue?"

Desperately she hoped that the end would come soon.  Each day
she lost a little more of the tenacious control she had over the queen. 
She feared that if things continued this way that Zelandreth would turn 
on her.  His words helped to put her at ease.

>     "Not long," he assured her, putting a hand on her shoulder.  "All 
>will be well, you have my promise on this." 

>     "Thank you, my Lord," Isara said, bowing. 

>    "But for tonight, I have a job for you," he went on, reaching into 
a
>pocket and handing Isara a glass vial.  "We will be bringing 
>Zelandreth a...gift, of sorts...tonight.  One that she may be reluctant 
>to accept.  I need her to be in a more receptive mood by the time 
>Vascone and I return.  When her clutchmates bring in her evening >meal, 
you must ensure that this has been poured onto it.  It has no
>taste, and she will not detect it...but she must *not* see you do it! 
>For Shamir and I will be elsewhere, and cannot protect you if she
>does!"

Isara swallowed hard as she took the vial.  "I will not fail you
my Lord."  How she would manage this, she was not quite certain.  
Zelandreths clutchmates always brought the kills directly to
the queen. And Zelandreth did not like anyone interfering with her 
meals.

"I have faith in you, Isara."  His tone told her that letting him down 
was not an option.  With that he dismissed her.  Saying that he still 
had things to attend to before tonight.  Isara stood for a few minutes, 
examining the contents of the vial, a plan already forming in her mind.  
It didn't take long for her to get things set up.  Zelandreth took 
little interest in Isara's activity, though she kept her eye on the 
girl.

By the time Halamek, the dragon who usually brought Zelandreth her meal, 
had arrived everything was prepared.  It would be risky, and would upset 
the fussy queen, but it was the only way short of snatching the doe from 
the dragons mouth.  Isara stood just inside the entrance of the hatching 
cavern.  She had to time it right.  Scattered just inside the entrance 
way were green pine fronds, and on top of that, the fire powder that 
Khazeen had shown her.  

She waited until Halamek's head entered the cavern.  Finding that warm 
'spot' inside herself she focused her thoughts the way Khazeen had told 
her.  A blinding flash of light was followed by a billow of smoke.  
Halamek jerked his head back, dropping the doe as he let out a shocked 
cry.  Startled Zelandreth rose from her spot near the eggs and roared a 
challenge.  Isara rushed out to were the doe had fallen.  

"Easy Zelandreth!  Easy!"  She shouted through the smoke.  "It was just 
me!, I didn't recognise Halamek."  

Growling in anger the queen stalked forward.  She stopped only when her 
head was a few feet away from Isara's.  Fear clawed at Isara, as 
Zelandreth's fetid breath washed over her.  The beast snarled, flecks of 
saliva splattering Isara's face and clothing.  With a sudden jerk 
Zelandreth snapped up the doe that lay at Isara's feet.  Still growling 
and sulking the queen returned to her spot beside her clutch.  

Isara smiled as Zelandreth noisily devored the doe.  Khazeen would be 
proud.  She headed out of the cavern, tossing the empty vile away once 
she was certain Zelandreth wouldn't notice.  Being careful not to get 
any of the liquid on her hands.  Now all she had to do was wait for her 
Lord to return.  

  
Submitted by...
Katherine Heath
Isara

NRPG:  Isara's bio will follow shortly!  Sorry it took me so long to get 
this out!  I look forward to writing with all of you.  

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