Kellie
(morning, current day)

<<It didn't take him long to find her.  All he had to do was follow the sounds
of shouting as Kellie was trying to get Varie to hold still long enough so
she could mount her and fly away.
 
 The dragon however wasn't being very helpful thanks to a few words from
 Trissana. 

"Would you stop!! I just want to get out of here!!" Kellie was shouting at
 the beast when he finally caught up to them.
 
     <Well, you know what Leis' rider said about my flying too much before my
wing is fully healed...> the dragon said vaguely, her mind searching for an
excuse that would give the nice human enough time to get over to where they
were standing.  <Plus, I haven't eaten yet, you know...>

 "Kellie..."
 
<< "Go away," she said, refusing to even turn around and look at him.
 
 <<"Kellie please... I'm sorry," he coaxed softly and reached for her arm to
 make her turn around and face him. When he noticed the tears slipping
 unchecked down her cheeks, he felt like the worse kind of fool and hated
 himself knowing he was the cause of them.
 
 <<"I'm sorry," he said again as his callused fingered came up to brush away
 the tears. "I'm a heel who doesn't deserve you."
 
 <<"You got that right Kiddo!" she snapped favoring him with a cutting look as
 she tried to pull away from his touch But found it was like trying to move a
 mountain with just a wish.
 
 <<"Come on Granny, tell me how you really feel," he looked down at her, his
 eyes glowing with amusement now that his brain had finally started to work.
 
 <<"Go to hell!" she growled and tried once more to pull away from him.
 
 <<He knew he had one chance to convince her how much she really meant to him
 and didn't want to blow it now.
 
 <<"Why should I go to hell when I finally found heaven in your arms," the
 gentle, loving look now in his eyes spoke louder then words could have. But
 he knew now that she needed to *hear* those words. Needed to *hear* him tell
 her what was in his heart.
 
 <<"I never thought I would ever know the kind of love my parents have always
 shared. Never thought it was possible. But how was I to know that you were
 waiting in my future? How was I to know that until I met you there was
 something missing in my life?" he said softly. His big strong hands gently
 caressing her cheek as he spoke.
 
 <<"I never knew there was something missing until I met you. The more I was
 with you the deeper you worked yourself into my heart until finally I knew
 you were meant to be there. I love you Varie's rider. More then I ever
 thought I could love anyone. You showed me what I was missing. You're love
 makes me complete. If I were to lose it now then I would be only half a man."
 
 <<"Oh Turner..," she cried, her body relaxing against his thanks to the
 helping push of the dragon behind her.
 
 <<"I lost one person today that was very important to me.. I couldn't bare to
 lose you to. Kellie.. Rider of Varie, would you please do this humble,
 stupid smith who is not nearly good enough for you, the honor of becoming my
 mate?"

     Kellie's eyes went wide.  "Your...your....m-mate?" she asked,  totally
dumbfounded by the enormity of what he'd just asked her.  It had, of course,
crossed her mind that he might one day ask this question, but...

     She looked up into his expectant eyes.  "Turner...I...I...don't know what
to say," she whispered.

     "Well, 'yes' might be good for a starter," he suggested, grinning
boyishly.

     Kellie was paralyzed by indecision.  "Turner, you...know how much you
mean to me...but..."  She slipped out from between him and Varie and turned
her back on him.  "When I came here to Cleft, it was to forget.  To forget
that...I'd lost my mate.  Keldarra seemed so empty without K'rald, that I
just...couldn't go on.   The day I left there, I swore I'd never get close to
anyone again...not even my own son..."

     <Stupid, stupid,> Varie's voice slid through her mind.

     Turner took his shoulders in his strong hands and turned her around to
face him again.  "Does Cleft feel empty to you now?" he asked.  "It doesn't to
me, not now...because you're here.  But before, it did...I was a lot like you,
you know."

     She looked up at him questioningly.

     "Kellie, I left Telnor because my family did, but also because I thought
that I was lonely there...Lenna and all my brothers had joined, and I hadn't.
I thought I was doomed to spend the rest of my life alone because of that, and
I figured that this place, out here on the edge of the world, would be a good
place to do it!  But I was wrong, Kellie.  I found you...and my life changed.
Can't yours change too?"

    Kellie blinked tears out of her eyes.  "Turner, I can't bear to lose
anyone again!"

     "Neither can I," he agreed.  "And I don't want to lose you.  That's why I
want you for my mate.  Kellie, I love you..."

     And in the end, Kellie followed her heart rather than her caution.  She
threw her arms around Turner and pulled him close to her, pressing the side of
her face against his own.  "Oh, Turner, I never thought I'd ever love anyone
again...but I love you too, you big gallumph!!"

     "And so..."  he prompted, turning her face to his and planting a kiss on
her lips.

     "Yes, Turner, YES," she said wiping the tears from her eyes and kissing
him again.

     "Bravo!" Cynthia and Trevor chorused, both of them applauding.

     "It seems he's smarter than you thought, Mother," Trevor said with a
laugh.

     Kellie's lips slowly pulled away from Turner's and she glared at the two
of 
them standing in the doorway clapping.  "Don't you two have anything 
better to be doing?"

     Cynthia looked at Trevor and said, "I don't have to be in my office for a
while yet.  Do you have anything you need to do?"

     "I can't think of anything," Trevor replied mildly.

     "Could you at least try to find something else to do?" Turner implored.

     "We could try what they just did," Cynthia suggested.

     "You mean this?" Trevor asked leaning close to Cynthia and pressing his 
lips to hers.

     Cynthia held him close, maneuvered them back through the door and 
kicked it closed behind them.  "I'm sure there's something that happens 
after this," she said against his lips.

     Kellie glared after them as they disappeared inside.  Turner just smiled
and drew her close to him.  "Well, Varie's rider, look at it this way...you're
not just gaining a mate...you're gaining the biggest family in Cleft Warren.
And, when those two tie the knot - you can tell your new daughter-in-law not
to smart off to you anymore."

     They both laughed at that prospect.  "But in the meantime," Kellie said,
slipping an arm around Turner's waist, "I think her idea may not be such a bad
one."

     "What, right here?" Turner asked, pretending embarrassment.

     "I can also tell my new mate not to smart off to me," she reminded him,
motioning for Varie to crouch down so they could mount.  This time, the smug-
looking green dragon did so without complaint.   <Someplace secluded,> she
told the dragon, as she and Turner mounted.

(Tag Barb! :)

* * * * * * * * * *
Trevor
(at Vorbis' camp)

     Vorbis kept asking questions, everything from the duties of the
warrenlady to the man who digs the coal.  Trevor gladly answered his
questions, but wondered about them at the same time.  He was certain, for
instance, that Vorbis knew the general terms of the Contract between the
Warrens and the Landbound by heart...any member of the Landbound aristocracy
would.  Thus, there seemed little reason for  Vorbis to ask obvious questions
such as whether riders would ever use their dragons to kill landbound.

     Unless, of course, Vorbis was some younger son of a local lord who had
little in the way of dealings with the warrens.  That would probably explain
it...or, it could be also, that Vorbis was simply asking so many questions to
keep Trevor from asking any of his own.  This was an effective tactic that he
himself had employed over the years, back in the time when he'd kept himself
apart from others.  And it had always worked, until he'd met Cynthia.  He
smiled slightly at the thought of how she'd referred to him as an onion, with
so many layers that even he couldn't keep track of them...

     And that, of course, brought up a concern he'd been feeling ever since
his talk with Lady Amberylle.  Was there something that Vorbis didn't want
them to know?  Such as, for example, the reason he seemed to have so many
soldiers present with his group?

     They stepped out of the tent when they had finished talking, and Trevor
saw that the sun was halfway up the sky.  "I am sorry to have kept you,"
Vorbis said.  "I must have bored you with my questions."

     "No, its quite all right," he said, glancing over at where Trissana lay
waiting for him.  He was starting to get worried about her.  She was still
just a bit off-color from last night.  Maybe he'd need to talk to S'lomon when
he got back to Cleft, see if she needed any vitamins...

    "My answer is yes," Vorbis said suddenly.  "I will have that ride you
suggested.  I would very much like to see this warren, and meet the
warrenlady.  Who is she, again?"

     "Cynthia," Trevor repeated for him.

     "Yes, Cynthia.  I would like to meet her."  As Vorbis signaled one of his
attendants to have a cloak brought out for him, Trevor told Triss that they
were ready to leave.

     <Well, it's about time,> she told him.  <Lying here watching these boring
little humans going about their boring little tasks has been...well,
*boring!*>

     *Sorry,* he told her.  Trissana usually wasn't this touchy.  He wondered
if she was still angry at herself because she hadn't been able to find Lenna
and Blanchie at Geode Warren last night.  Maybe he needed to have a long talk
with her when they got home.

     "This is my dragon, Trissana," Trevor told Vorbis by way of introduction.

     "He's very impressive," said Vorbis, looking up at the great dragon.
     
     "He's a she, actually...have you ever ridden a dragon before?" Trevor
asked Vorbis as they approached her.

     "No," said Vorbis, shaking his head as he stared up at his "ride" back to
Cleft Warren.  Triss had stood up to await them, her neck arched proudly, and
her blue eyes gleaming as she looked down on them.  She *was* a bit off color,
he decided, but her scales weren't dull as they'd been last night...she was
absolutely gleaming!  He'd never seen her look more beautiful or impressive.

     At his order, she crouched down, and Trevor helped Vorbis up into the
saddle.  "It's not all that difficult," he assured the Lord as he helped him
get strapped in.  "Just remember that teleporting can be a bit scary the first
time - but there's no danger in it.  We do it all the time."

     Vorbis nodded.  If the man was at all worried, he hid it well.  *Go,
Cupcake!* he told her.

     <And don't call me that!> she snapped at him, springing aloft and
catching the air with her wings.  <My name is *Trissana,* not Kup-Kake!>

     *Sorry,* he told her again, as she soared over the camp - so low that her
wings once again stirred up a wind that he was sure those below must have
found disconcerting.  Why was she so snappish today?  This wasn't at all like
her.

     Lord Vorbis endured the teleport like a trooper, and soon they were
winging in toward the southern entrance to the Cleft.  Trevor got Vorbis'
attention, and pointed downward.

     "This is the Hanan encampment we're passing over now," he called back,
indicating the cluster of tents and newly-erected stone buildings that
sprawled out below them.  Then he pointed at another group of tents and
buildings some distance away.  "And over there are the Rushela."

     "Nomads?" Vorbis asked, cupping his hands to his mouth so that his voice
would carry more clearly over the rushing wind.

     Trevor nodded back at him.  "Yes.  We're trying to get the Nomad tribes
to settle close to the warren so that we can better protect them.  We do have
wraiths here now, you know."

     "How do they feel about being resettled?" Vorbis asked.

     "Well, these two tribes at least have accepted the fact that their old
lifestyle can't continue as it has in the past.  Any Nomad tribe that gets
caught out on the plains by a swarm of wraiths, with nothing but tents for
protection, is pretty much doomed."

     "How many tribes are there?" Vorbis wanted to know.  "Will they all
settle here?"

     "I don't know the answer," Trevor admitted.  "To either question.  Some
may refuse to give up their old lifestyle.  We''ll protect them as best we
can, but it'll be a hard job because of the size of these lands and the lack
of permanent settlements.  I suppose some others may choose to settle at
Jhezrael, or what's left of it.  No dragons to protect them, but at least it's
defensible."

     "Jhezrael?" Vorbis asked, seeming interested.

     Trevor sighed.  "It's not anyplace you want to take your people to
settle, believe me.  Either I or someone else can tell you about it later."

     Triss glided down to the upper green and landed smoothly.  Trevor
dismounted, then helped Vorbis down.    Triss, as soon as he'd unsaddled her,
brusquely excused herself and left.  Trevor turned to Vorbis.

     "I don't know about you, but I could use a cold ale," he said.  "Or would
you like me to take you to where your wife is staying and get you settled in?"

(Tag Darren - I thought I'd better let you take it from this point, since I
don't know what Vorbis has in mind.)

* * * * * * * *
Renata
(Geode Warren med-center, same afternoon)

     She and Vega hadn't returned to Cleft with the others.  Frankly, she
hadn't expected to be alive by this time.  She and Vega had gone into battle
expecting to die defending Geode, and in that way to redeem at least some of
her lost honor by dying better than she had lived.  Now, she didn't know what
to do...she and Vega had spent the night in a narrow mountain pass some
distance from the warren, huddled against the bitter winter cold while
fruitlessly trying to think of what to do now.

     Now, as afternoon approached, she still hadn't come up with anything
useful.  She wanted to go back to Cleft, to be with C'aranth again...but she
was still banished from the warrens, and knew the degree of problems that she
would cause both Cynthia and the Dragonlady Christalla if she tried to return
there to stay.

     <You must have faith,> Vega told her, as the cream-yellow dragon glided
in toward Geode Warren.  <Something will come along...>

     *Something did, once,* she said bitterly.  *M'del and Rashevon, and
Jhezrael.  That didn't work out too well, did it?*

     <No, it didn't,> Vega said, a shudder passing through her from nose to
tail as she settled down to the green.

     Renata quickly dismounted.  She'd planned to tell Warrenlady Phaedra or
one of the wingleaders who she was when she arrived, but in the press of
events she just hadn't had the opportunity.  Now, with the wings from the
other warrens gone, she wondered if anyone would recognize and challenge her
as she made her way to the med center.  She knew she had no business being
here, and shouldn't have returned, but she couldn't leave the area without
first making sure that J'errid was all right.

     No one stopped her, and she soon found her way to the room where J'errid
had been placed.  He'd been badly injured, and now was heavily bandaged.  He
looked up from where he lay on the bed when she entered, and she saw that he
wasn't alone.  She recognized his visitor as Mc'Key, Geode's Beta wingleader.
She began to back out of the room with a mumbled apology.

     "Mc'Key, this is one of my riders from Cleft," J'errid said, motioning
for her to enter.  

     "And your name is..." Mc'Key asked, looking at her intently.  She was
sure he knew who she was.

     "It's..." she began.

     "Rita," J'errid said.  Badly injured though he was, and doubtless on
painkillers, his mind seemed to be as swift as ever.

     "Pleased to meet you...Rita," said Mc'Key, still looking doubtful.  "I
was just here going over the list of casualties with Wingleader J'errid.  "We
do, of course, wish to give full honors to those who died here defending our
warren."

     "Of course," Renata said uncertainly.

     "I was just looking over the list Dan'yar gave to Mc'Key earlier,"
J'errid supplied.  "Would you take a look at it, to see if we've missed
anyone?"

     Renata took the list from Mc'Key and quickly scanned down the names.
They were broken down by warren, and she saw that Cleft hadn't come off badly
as compared to some others, like Geode and Telnor, probably because Cleft had
been placed behind Telnor in the battle line.  She came to the bottom of the
Cleft list, and her eyes widened in shock when she read her own name, and that
of Vega, as being among those killed.  The ink on that entry was still fresh.
She looked up from the paper to meet the eyes of the Cleft and Geode
wingleaders.

     "I had Mc'Key add that one," J'errid said.  "You remember Renata, don't
you?  The one who helped us in the battle at Jhezrael?  Very sad...she and her
dragon died defending Shaithos and me from the wraiths after we went down."

     "Yes, very sad," Mc'Key agreed.  "I never met her, but I heard about her,
of course.  There were many who thought that, in view of her reasons for doing
what she did, she shouldn't have been banished from Epion.  But, well, the
law's the law."

     "Yes, I agree," said J'errid.  "And, of course, since Cleft's so far away
from your lands here, and what with the difficulty of travel between the two
groups of warrens, she probably could have just stayed at Cleft without anyone
from these parts knowing about it...if she'd lived."

     "If she'd lived," said Mc'Key, nodding.  "But I just remembered that I
also saw her and her dragon go down."

     "You....you did?" Renata asked.

     Mc'Key nodded.  "I'm afraid so," he said, taking the list from her and
folding it over once.  "Vasleth and I were nearby...it wasn't a pretty sight.
She and her dragon were completely covered with wraiths when they went down.
There wouldn't be enough left of them to identify, even."  He slipped the list
into a vest pocket.  "Anyway, since Phaedra is injured, Vasleth and I will
take this to Ismene Warren and give it to Dragonlady Vignette so that the
other warrens can be officially notified.  I guess Vignette can stamp "closed"
on her decree of banishment...since she's dead now, you know."

     J'errid reached out with his good hand and gripped her arm.  "When you
get back to Cleft, Rita, please tell Cynthia that I'm expected to pull
through.  I'll be back at Cleft as soon as Shaithos is able to fly."

     "I...I will," she said, glancing back and forth between J'errid and
Mc'Key with tear-filled eyes.  "Thank you."  She turned and hurried from the
room, not stopping until she had reached Vega.  She vaulted up into the
saddle, and the two were quickly aloft.

     <Where to?> Vega asked happily.

     *Cleft...no, wait, take us into the Nomadlands first,* she decided.  *I
have some thinking to do before I go and see Cynthia.*

     And abruptly, the scene around her changed.  Instead of the mountainous
terrain around Geode, they were cruising slowly over the endless, flat plains
of the Nomadlands.

     It was too much for her to absorb all at once.  As soon as that list
reached Dragonlady Vignette, she'd be officially dead in the records of both
Ismene and Epion.  Her banishment would - from a legal standpoint at least -
be ended, as long as nobody from over there learned that the announcement of
her death had been a bit premature.  But if she stayed at Cleft and never
returned there, that wouldn't happen.  

     Suddenly, against all odds, she'd been granted a second chance at life.
She resolved then and there that her new life would be better than the old
one.  She told Vega to set her course for the warren, but to fly straight
rather than teleport.  

     They hadn't gone far, though, when Vega's sharp eyes spotted something
ahead.  She quickly directed her rider's attention to it.  *What is it?*
Renata asked.

     <It appears to be a man,> Vega said, with a mental shrug.  <Standing on
that little hill out there.  He appears to be waving to us.>

     Renata had the dragon turn in his direction, meaning to go and
investigate.  But as they drew closer, Renata realized that there was
something very familiar about that figure.  *It can't be!* she told the
dragon.

     <Well, it is,> Vega replied.

     *He couldn't even wait at the warren for *two* days without kiting off to
find Zelandreth again!* she said in exasperation, waving back down at C'aranth
as Vega circled in to land on the hilltop.

(Tag Darren - a joyous reunion, eh? I'm sure they'll each have some
fascinating things to tell the other:)

* * * * * * * *
Trissana
(Cleft Warren, lower green, late afternoon)

     Ever since her return to the warren some time before, the pearl dragon
had been plagued by alternating bouts during which she either shivered with
cold or panted from being overheated.  She'd hoped it would pass, and hadn't
wanted to tell her rider that she might be sick.  So she'd glided down to the
lower green and curled up next to the rock wall, and soon slipped into a
fitful sleep.

     Soon, though, she began to dream...and in her dream, she found herself in
that hateful hollow, with its stunted, twisted trees, that she would remember
all her life...the place where *he* had come upon her...

     She started to rise, but suddenly there was a weight on her, and she
looked up fearfully to see *him* again, lying atop her and glaring down
triumphantly at her with those terrifying red eyes.  Before she could move,
his claws closed around her neck, pressing her head against the ground.  He
lowered his own head, running the tip of his nose along her neck in an almost
gentle caress, until his breath gusted warmly across her face.  She tried to
struggle away from him, but his weight and that horrible strength she
remembered so well held her motionless, assisted by her own paralyzing fear.
She knew what he meant to do with her, but was powerless to stop him.

     It was only when she felt him begin to force her tail to the side, and
felt that warm and revolting wetness push itself up under its base, that she
let out the scream that had been building up inside her...

    And abruptly, she was back on Cleft's green, shivering uncontrollably, and
her flanks heaving in and out like the bellows of a blacksmith's forge.  Next
to her, little Eness lay on her side, looking up at her with eyes that were
wide with startlement.  So it had been her weight that Triss had felt...the
lingering warmth on her scales up between her wings told her that Eness had
decided to curl up there for a nap, but had been dumped off when Triss had
snapped out of her nightmare.

     <Oh, I'm sorry, little one,> Triss said, reaching out to gather the
dragonet against her chest to reassure her.  

     Eness didn't understand her words, but did understand the sentiment.  She
cuddled herself happily into Trissana's embrace.  Still, Triss knew that there
was something wrong.  She was now almost unbearably hot, but was still
shivering.  What was wrong with her?  She decided that she had no choice but
to tell her rider that she was sick.

     But then, looking up, she saw something that made her tremble.  From all
around the warren...the lower and upper greens, and from many of the ledges
that protruded from the sheer walls of the warren, dragons were watching her.
Her breathing quickened again as she realized that they were all males.  And
they all had the same look in their eyes...the look that *his* eyes had held
as he looked at her...

     She quickly released Eness, and gave the dragonet a push with her tail.
<Go, little one!> she said.  <Go to Ivee's rider...now!>  The pearl dragon got
up slowly, as Eness scampered off to find Ankara and Ivee.  She met the eyes
of the nearest males, those who were a short distance from her on the lower
green.

     <No!> she told them, backing slowly away as feelings of fear, lust, and
outrage filled her.  <Don't look at me like that!>  But they kept staring at
her, and one or two took hesitant steps in her direction.

     Terrified, she continued to back away...but suddenly they seemed to be
everywhere, their eyes following her as she moved.  <Go away!> she cried.

    *Triss! Triss, what's wrong?*  Trevor asked, alerted by the feelings that
poured down their link.

     <My rider, they *want* me!> she cried.  <Make them stay away from me!>

     *Don't do anything!* Trevor cried, and she could feel that he was as
frightened by this as she was.  *I'm coming!*

     She urged him to hurry, but knew she couldn't wait.  One part of her mind
wanted what *they* wanted...but the other part remembered what Rashevon had
done to her.  She would never allow another to do that to her...never!!!!

    Even though the nearest male was several dragon-lengths away, to her
fevered perceptions they seemed to be crowding around her, not even allowing
her room to breathe.  She had to fly...

     Her wings snapped open, and with a roar of defiance, she took to the air.
Behind her, the male dragons of Cleft rose in pursuit.

* * * * * * * *
Trevor

     He and Cynthia had been just starting to get dressed for dinner, and
happily making their plans for the big announcement to the warren - now, as it
turned out, a double announcement.

     "I wonder if your mother and Turner want me to make their announcement,
or do it themselves," Cynthia wondered as she slipped into her evening dress.

     "Well, we can ask them," said Trevor.  "I don't think either of them are
big on getting up in front of crowds, though."

    "I've always wanted a big family," Cynthia said wistfully, a beautiful
smile on her face.  "Now it looks like I'll get my wish."

     "And I've gotten mine," he said, bending forward to give her a quick
kiss.  Suddenly he stiffened.  "Triss?" he whispered.

     "What's wrong?" Cynthia asked, seeing the sudden concern on his face.

     "I don't know," he said.  "I'm trying to ask her, but...she's not making
any sense...she wants me to keep 'them' away from her...but who are 'they?"

     "I'd better ask Syren," she said, as she followed Trevor outside.  Her
face paled at the news her queen gave her.  "Trevor!  Syren says that Trissana
is rising..."

     They both looked up and saw Trissana rocketing over the warren, trailing
behind her a multicolored gaggle of male dragons.

     "...to mate," Cynthia finished unnecessarily.  She and Trevor looked into
each others' eyes, both knowing what this meant.  Both had known and feared
that this day would come...but neither had expected it this soon.

     Already, he could see the inevitable gathering of the riders of the male
dragons...just a few at a time, but he knew that soon all of them would be
here.  "I've got to get out of here," he said urgently.  He turned and almost
bumped into Kellie, who had come running up behind them, with Turner only a
few steps behind.

     Trevor had had his escape long planned - a simple thing, really, just get
the rider of the nearest female dragon to fly him up over the warren, where he
couldn't be part of what was about to happen.  It looked like his mother had
gotten the honors.  Kellie, too, knew what was in his mind, and nodded
quickly.  "I'll call Varie over here!"

     "Trevor, wait!" said Cynthia, grasping his arm as she watched the racing
dragons overhead with a look of alarm on her face.  "Syren says that this is
wrong!  Trissana doesn't understand - she thinks they're trying to hurt her!"

     "What??" he demanded.  He'd closed his mind against the feelings that his
dragon was emitting, knowing that otherwise he might be swept into her mating
passion.  Now, reluctantly, he opened it just a bit...and realized to his
horror that Cynthia was right.

     *Triss, no!* he called.  *They just want to mate!  They aren't going to
hurt you!*

      she shrieked, a wave of terror accompanying her words.  

     Oh, gods...why hadn't he seen this coming?  After what Rashevon had
done...or, at least tried to do...to her, she *would* associate mating with
being humiliated and hurt!  How could he have been so stupid?  Now his own
fear rose to choke him...his nightmares of old were coming to pass...but it
wouldn't be him that would hurt others, it would be his dragon!  In her
current state of mind, he knew only too well that if a male caught her, she
would turn on him to defend herself...and a dragon her size could do enormous
damage unless he could control her. 

   And then he remembered that day, not so long ago, up on the green, when
Syren had just pulled him and Triss back from the edge of the precipice.
"I'll never leave you again," he'd told the little hatchling.  And he knew he
couldn't abandon her now.  He had to stay, and lead her through this, step by
step.  He knew what the cost to himself would be, but for his dragon he would
have to pay it.  He'd worry about the consequences later.
 
     He turned back to Cynthia.  "I can't leave her," he said quietly.  "She
needs me."

     "I know," Cynthia said, and drew him urgently into her arms.  They stood
together for just a moment, each needing the other's presence as an anchor
against the storm that swirled around them.

     "It's time," she said finally.  Trevor looked around and saw that the
male riders were clustered in a large semicircle nearby.  He nodded, gave
Cynthia a last embrace, and then turned to meet them.  He saw their eyes
tracking him, and stopped for a moment.

     He looked back at Cynthia, drawing courage from her presence, and then
opened himself up fully to Trissana.  Suddenly he was no longer standing on
the green, but was high in the air above the warren with her.  With all of the
willpower he'd built up through the long years of his self-imposed exile, he
fought to gain control...and just hoped he wasn't too late.

NRPG:

Sorry for the length, but there was a lot to cover in this one.  Hope I didn't
bore anybody to death... :)

Darren - I left enough time between Trevor's return to the warren and Triss'
mating flight for Trevor to get Vorbis settled, and for Vorbis to do some
interacting - probably a couple hours worth, at least.  Also, enough time for
Renata and C'aranth to get back to the warren, if you want.

Kris - I'm sure this will strike rather close to home for Vonn as well...what
will her reaction be? 

Also, my thanks to Alton for supplying the scene with Trevor and Cynthia,
after Kellie accepted Turner's proposal!  I think, btw, that Cynthia will have
her work cut out for her both during and after this flight. :)

And finally - will the lucky winner of the lovely pearl dragon please come
forward to claim your prize?  She's a spirited one, but that should make
things all the more fun!  

Submitted by:

John Pepper

Trevor & Trissana
Kellie & Varie
Renata & Vega

Cleft Warren