Renata
(Day 3, morning)

    [Jeratko is back!] Vega told Renata.  She looked up from polishing her 
sword, her heart leaping.
   
    "C'aranth is back??" she asked, leaping up and dashing out the door, 
heading for the green at a run.  She held up a hand to shade her eyes from 
the bright sunlight, watching as Els'beth's dragon circled in for a landing, 
the much smaller Jeratko riding in a sling beneath her.  She could see the 
redheaded rider  - Els'beth, whom she'd hoped she'd never have to lay eyes on 
again - on the dragon's back, and just behind her...C'aranth!  Was he coming 
back to stay?  She hardly dared hope. 

     C'aranth slid off the saddle as the dragon came to a rest.  He looked 
across the green, only days and it seemed like ages.  His gaze stopped as he 
notices the slim figure be the edge of the green.  He started across.  His 
stride was long and quick, when he came close he reached out to wrap his arms 
around her and pull her into a deep kiss. 

     [See, I told you you were worried over nothing,] Vega's thought intruded 
in her head.  [I did tell you that...] 
  
Renata broke the contact, having no wish to divide her attention between 
C'aranth and the dragon as she leaned forward into the kiss.  When their lips 
parted, she gazed into his eyes.  "You're...back?" she asked cautiously, 
fearful that he was going to say that he had to leave again. 

     "Yes, but I fear I have to get everything out of my room."  He sighs 
with a somber face watching hers intently.  His mood almost gloomy. 

     "Then...you're leaving again?" she asked, crestfallen. 
  
     "No, but how am I to move it to your quarters with out taking it out 
first?:  He smiles faintly.  "Come, I have much to unpack." 
 
     "Oh...you...!"  She briefly considered what she might do to him to pay 
him back for worrying her so, but satisfied herself by throwing her arms 
tightly around him again.  "Come on, I'll help you!"
 
     Together they walked over to the large dragon, to help little Jeratko 
out of the sling.  Els'beth was standing next to the dragon, glaring 
disapprovingly at her.  "I'm glad to see *you* too," Renata said 
sarcastically to the redhead. 

  Els'beth smiled wickedly.  "I am sure you are.  It is a rare thing for you 
to see so much honor."  She turns to pulls some of the bags free.  "Gods know 
you soil a good riders bed." 

     "Well," said Renata, watching Els'beth unloading the bags.  "I am glad 
that Warrenlady Gwyneth finally found a job that you are suited for, not to 
mention capable of performing.  You do very well at unloading bags." 

     Els'beth turned her head as she walked away from her dragon.  "The 
Warrenlady asked that I return after two weeks.  I wonder why, something you 
said in private, C'aranth?"   She pulls the bag up and heads into the 
quarters.   

     C'aranth pulled free a long package the clinked as he worked it free of 
the straps.  "Is the Warrenlady in, I need to see her as soon as possible.  I 
also have gifts for the others."  He noted the exchange between the two of 
them, but thought better than to say anything as they would have to have a 
chat later. 

      "She's coming back?" Renata asked sourly.  "Well, anyway, Cynthia's not 
here. She's gone somewhere with Dan'yar and a number of other riders.  And 
the gifts are for...?"

     "Andahar," said C'aranth.  "And Trevor."

    She had to consult with Vega, who told her that neither Bohoc nor 
Trissana was in the warren either.  She passed this along to C'aranth.  "I 
don't know what's going on," she admitted.  "Andahar was acting very 
strangely earlier."
   
     She picked up another bag.  "I'll tell Vega to listen for their dragons, 
though," she promised.  "As soon as they get back, she'll let me know.  In 
the meantime, shall we start moving your things? "
 
     "What has been happening?"  C'aranth asked, starting across the green 
headed for his quarters.
 
    "I don't know for sure," she told him, then stopped as she saw Els'beth 
emerge from C'aranth's quarters.  "There's more bags," she reminded the Epion 
rider.  "Just leave them outside the door."   She then turned back to 
C'aranth.  "I've been hearing all sorts of weird things...and seeing some 
weird things, too.  People acting weird, dragons acting weird...I've heard it 
said that there are Hellspawn in the warren." 

     C'aranth watched the defeated Els'beth slip out of the room.  He could 
see the pain now, she had lost for the first time, and to someone so far 
beneath her it was a deep shame.  "You should watch what you say, love. She 
is the Captain of the Queen's Honor guard."  He set the sword his father had 
made down and laid them out with solemn reverence.  "Do we know where the 
hellspawn is?" 
 
     "I overheard Trevor talking to Dan'yar," she told him in a whisper.  "He 
thinks this one is something different...a wraith that can move from person 
to person, dragon to dragon....I've never heard of such a thing.  But of 
course, we never had Hellspawn at Epion...or at Jhezrael.  If such a thing 
exists, it would be very dangerous, I think." 

     "We were never so clumsy at Epion," said C'aranth.  "See what happens, I 
leave for a few days and the warren falls apart."  He smiled as he opened the 
cabinet that contained his armor.  He pulled the pieces out one by one.  
"Find out where the Warrenlady is. I am sure she will need us."

     Renata nodded.  "All right," she said.  She turned her head in 
Els'beth's direction.  "What about...her?" 

     He looked down to the green.  "This isn't her fight." 

     "Very well," she answered.  "As soon as you get your armor stowed, and 
get Jeratko seen to, we'll go.  Hopefully Vega can find Syren or one of the 
other dragons." 

    Moments later, C'aranth - resplendent in his gleaming armor - stepped out 
to where Renata and the dragons waited.  Renata watched with a thrill of 
pride as he slid his great sword into its sheath...but at the same time, she 
could not forget that steel might not be the ideal weapon against Hellspawn 
and wraiths.

     Renata hurriedly mounted the crouching Vega while C'aranth spent a 
moment with his own dragon Jeratko, who could not come with them into a 
possible combat situation.  When he'd finished, Renata extended a hand to 
help him up behind her onto Vega's saddle.

     [Oof!] the dragon complained.  [He's a lot heavier wearing all that 
metal!]

     *Tell me about it!* grunted Renata, who was straining to assist the 
armor-clad C'aranth in his attempt to mount the dragon.  Now she knew why no 
one ever suggested that dragonriders wear armor plate for wraith-fighting, 
despite the obvious advantages of such a thing.

     "Let's go...time may be of the essence," C'aranth said the moment he was 
seated behind Renata.

     *You heard the man,* she told Vega.  *Let's go!*

     Vega's answer was interrupted by the *popping* sounds of dragons 
teleporting in over the warren.  Renata looked up and saw Syren's 
unmistakeable form winging in low between the towering cliffs, and just 
behind her the smaller Trissana and Bohoc.  With them were the whole wing 
that had gone out, with Shinner in the lead.

     [They're here,] Vega said unnecessarily, as they watched the dragons 
land on the green.  

     "It would have been convenient had they arrived a few moments earlier," 
C'aranth observed, echoing Renata's own thought.  

    "Right," she replied.  "Well, let's go and meet them."

(Tag Darren)

NRPG:  Another post is in the works, I hope to have it out in a few days. 
Many thanks to Darren for writing C'aranth's part!

Submitted by:

John

Renata & Vega
Cleft Warren

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