[Cynthia]

The Warrenlady of Cleft Warren sat in her office and pressed the cool
glass of juice against the front of her head.  The sounds of the party
down the corridor in the dining hall drifted to her ears.  It was good
to see her warren in such a festive mood.  For her, though, it felt as
if the night had lasted several days, and she just wanted a little peace
and quiet.  She would make an appearance at the party shortly since she
was obligated to.

She looked down at the list of new riders that sat on her desk.  More
than half of the newly joined were Nomads.  She hoped Qudhar would enjoy
his new job as assistant trainer.  There was enough for a new rider to
think about without having to deal with language problems.  Qedhar had
the patience and wisdom to help the newly loined in ways that a warren
-born trainer would not be able to.  Hopefully she could make the
training go smoothly for everyone.

***
[M'yer]

> "He is the father, though..."  He looked into her face and got his answer
> there.  "Oh. Ah... I see. My mistake. I seem to be putting my foot in it
> this morning, don't I?"
> 
> "It's a complicated situation," Brisse answered.
> 
> "Yes... it does appear to be.  I'll uh... just be... finding my partner
> now."

M'yer turned and dissapeared into the crowd as quickly as he could.  He
mutered to himself, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"  Despite the number of
people in the dining hall, he quickly found P'ker and took his mug of
ale from him.

"Hey!  What are you doing!" P'ker exclaimed as M'yer took a long pull.

"Sorry, but I was just talking to Brisse," M'yer explained, "I pull my
foot in my mouth, chewed and swallowed.  I just needed something to wash
it down with."

"In that case, I don't think I want that glass back.  I think I'll go
get another one."

M'yer shrugged, "Suit yourself."

P'ker shook his head and headed back toward the kegs.

M'yer looked around the room and spotted Cynthia.  The Warrenlady was
moving among the newly joined, stopping at each and talking for a few
minutes.  All of them shone with a light that was one part exhustion and
two parts extacy.  Their hard work was just beginning.

M'yer sighed and walked over to let her know that he and P'ker had
returned.

***
[Cynthia]

She had returned to her office once the party had broken up.  The newly
joined were getting some well deserved rest, and the remainder of the
warren was trying to get back to normal.   She had visions of clearing
some of the paper from her desk, and curling up in bed for a few hours. 
The visions didn't last long.

<Wraiths!> Syren screamed in her head.

It took Cynthia a second to reralize she had been dozing at her desk. 
She snapped awake and was momentarily disoriented.  When she realized
where she was she asked, *Where, Love?*

Syren provided her with a mental image of the area.

*That's south of the warren.*

<Yes, and a little west.>

*Get the wing assembled on the upper green.  Get the coal bins opened. 
I'll be on the green in two minutes.*

<Shaithos has already called for the wings to assemble.>

***
[J'errid]

J'errid remembered what his mentor had told him about the pressures of
leadership.  It always seemed to take longer for everything to happen
than you wanted it to.  On a very basic level, he knew that the flights
of Cleft dragons were gathering on the green as fast as they had in any
drill.  Yet he still wondered if they could have gathered faster.

When they had finished forming up, J'errid looked back at the assembled
riders.  Some had been at Cleft since the beginning, and others had
arrived more recently.  He wondered how many would return.

That glance cost precious seconds, but he had to take it.  He thrust his
fist into the air, and when he brought it down, Shaithos launched
himself into the air followed by Cleft's fighting wing.

As soon as they were at a marginally safe altitude, the wing teleported.

J'errid took a moment to analyze the situation that he saw.  The wraiths
were in a tight cluster making their way down out of the mountains
toward an encampment of Nomads.  He decided on a straight-forward
approach toward attacking the wraiths, and he led the way toward them as
the wing spread out in a broad attacking front.

Shaithos spat fire, and all around him, other dragons did the same. 
Suddenly he saw flam on the flanks of the cloud of wraiths .  He
wondered who had gotten so out of position.  Then he got an answer.

> <Send word to the head Cleft dragon,> he sent to Bykor, <that S'fan, head
> of Roland's rogues, is glad to see they could join us for the party.  I
> offer the services of my men and dragons, but only on the condition that
> we are not followed and no attempts to capture us are made.  We're here to
> fight wraiths, same as they are.  And, very frankly, I think all of us
> will be needed.>

*Shaithos, ask Dan'yar what he thinks of this arrangement,* J'errid
asked his dragon while they flamed a cluster of wraiths.

> <Bykor said they are dragonriders no matter what and how can they not
> respond with wraiths in the air attacking,> The brown relayed from the
> Wingleader's dragon. <So what would you do in this case? Agree to their
> terms or not?>
> 
> Dan'yar didn't have to think long. While he knew they should use this time
> to find out where the rogues were staying, but wasn't it more important to
> defeat the wraiths anyway they could?
> 
> <<Shinner tell J'errid to tell them we agree to their terms,>> he said
> flatly, knowing that the horde was larger as Frog's dragon had shown them,
> that they would need the extra help. <<But make sure to tell them this offer
> is only good as long as the attack is going on. After that the next time we
> meet them they are fair game.>>

J'errid agreed with Dan'yar that any help was appreciated. He didn't
like it, but this was a larger swarm of wraiths than any of them had
thought.

*Tell Bykor that we agree to their terms, and good hunting.*

***
[Cynthia]

Brisse walked into Cynthia's office and was surprised to find the
Warrenlady sitting at her desk calmly writing some notes about the
hatching.

"Any word?" Brisse asked.

"Not yet.  I've told Syren to keep Tymor informed of anything she
hears.  You'll know what's going on."

Brisse chuckled, "I can't imagine being so calm during a wraith attack."

Cynthia smiled, "This doesn't come naturally, you know.  My stomache is
still in knots, but I have two choices.  I can pace and fret, or I can
try to get some work done.  I'm trying to get something done, but I'm
still distracted by the battle."

"At least you look calm," Brisse said.

"Looks can be deceiving.  This is the hardest part of running a Warren,
Brisse.  You work so hard to get everything running smoothly so your
friends and your dragon's offspring can go off and battle wraiths.  When
it happens all you can do is sit and worry.  All you want is news, but
too often the news you get is bad.  We should hear something soon, as
the dragons return for more coal."

"That will be good."

"Hopefully," Cynthia smiled and put her pen down, "Let's head up to the
green and see what we can find out."

NRPG:

Have some fun with the battle against the wraiths.  Since Lyn started
it, I'd like to give everyone a chance to post from their perspective. 
Add whatever twists and turns you'd like.  I' ve got some more to add to
the end of the battle, but it'll wait until my next post.

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