*Darkness and Light*


She was drowning....

The blackness was rising up to steal her sanity away.

<NO!!> Blanchie screamed reached through the blackness to pull her riders
thoughts back to her. The dragon held onto her riders mind with a force like
she'd never had to use before. 

She knew she had to do something. She couldn't lose her rider now. She loved
her to much to let anything happen to her again. Not this time.

<You mush concentrate on my thoughts my love,> Blanchie told her. <I am here
and we are together. Remember that.>

Lenna stood there trying desperately to do as her dragon asked. Yes.. think
of Blanchie. The thought kept repeating itself in her mind until finally the
blackness retreated and she could see the light again.

She looked around and saw the worried looks her Mate and twin were giving
her. She didn't let it show, but she was glad they were both here with her
now. She didn't let anything show. If they knew they would surely send her
back to the Cleft, and right now she needed to be anywhere else but there. 

In the Cleft, the blackness could reach her. Steal her mind from her and
pull her away from everything she loved. Here at lease she could do
something. Keep her mind focused on this trouble with the damn wraiths.

They were an enemy she knew and could understand... not like that man who
had almost done... 

<MY rider please.... don't think about that now... >
Blanchie told her... <They say we have to mount now and go to meet the enemy
who are gathering. I need you to think only of that for now.>

<<Just get me up in the air my dearest heart where we can fight,>> she cried
and raced to mount the purple beast.

[[Insert battle posts here....]]

Soar and dive. Rise up and flame. 

Skip and move forward.

Flame, flame, flame.....

It took every bit of strength she had to keep her mind on the battle
happening in front of her. After a while it became second nature as the
Dragonrider in her took over and no wraith crossing the path of the two
lived to gloat about it.

They'd been at it for some time... fighting to win a point then having to
retreat. Back and forth the battle went on. She lost all track of time as
the wings engaged the enemy. Then they were ordered to take their turn
refueling at the coal bins in Geode while others moved in to take over their
positions while they were gone.

What greeted them was hell.

The coal bins were on fire!

No... this couldn't be happening!!

Lenna and everyone else soon learned that the dragons rising up to meet them
were not *their* kind of dragons... 

She had heard what the girl riding the new queen had said about the dragons
in the rogue Warren acting different... but hadn't believed they could have
been taken over by... 

<You were told the man was good... > Blanchie muttered heatedly as she
followed the wing down and engaged the hellspawn/dragons rising up to meet
them. 

the dragons had at first been weary about fighting their own kind, but when
the hellspawn/dragons hadn't shown the same concerns, the Warren dragons
knew they couldn't let keep back.

<We are not to fight them right now,> the beast told her. <We are being
ordered back to the Cleft to restock our coal ..then we can come back here
and help the wing from Telnor who will try to hold them off until we can
return.>

Before she could finish they teleported.

Blanchie was tired. Lenna could feel it though their link, but when she
questioned her life mate, the dragon lied slightly and told her she could go
on. She had too.. every dragon was needed. 

The purple knew she had to go on. She had to be strong for the both of them.
Here.. in this place they both called home, the darkness was the strongest.

She had to call upon years of love and respect for her rider to help keep
the girls mind focused on other things to keep the darkness from coming
between them.

Lenna was confused. The darkness and light were fighting in her mind. Each
trying to dominate the human. Each trying to pull her soul over to their
side. Only the presence of her dragon in her mind gave her the will to fight
back.

She couldn't let the darkness win.

All she needed was to get away from here. To get back to Geode where she
*had* to keep her mind on other things. That's what she needed. The longer
she stayed here the stronger the hold darkness held over her. 

When the order came to remount and lift up in formation came, she was nearly
silly in her relief. 

They were soaring high in the sky when Meritanth contacted her about Rook...
but Lenna was concentrating on the picture of the Geode so hard in her mind
that at first Meri's words didn't register. 

By the time they did it was to late. 

Blanchie who was feeling more tired and exhausted then she'd admitted was
unable to read the confusion in her riders mind at the last minute. The
indecision was all it took.

Darkness laughed as he moved in to take the final step. He had fought
against the light and came out on top.

Darkness had won.......

========================  

nrpg:
Lenna and Blanchie have disappeared and are not to be found... Lonnie thinks
they stayed behind in Cleft with Rook and B`rand... while B`rand thinks she
went back to the fight..... but what really happened.... only darkness knows
for sure... and he ain't telling......

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

Lenna & Blanchie
Cleft Warren.......

aka
Barbara