(Ok everybody my e-mail is really screwed up so this is the final
copy that goes in the archives.  If you got "Daere's Walls" trash it.  If
you already got this, delete it.)

        (On a road to Daere Warren)
        
        Dyanisa could almost find it funny how much her life had changed in
a fortnight.  One minute she was being chased by a pack of very nasty wolf
or snake, or both, creatures, the next joining a dragon.  A week later she
was leaving the waste and a week after that sitting in a strange contraption
called a wagon on her way to Daere Warren.  She still couldn't decide
weather to curse or thank the pack.

        They had chased her out of the best cave she had found in months,
right into the area of a mother dragon.  Of course, she could not blame them
for the earthquake that forced the mother to flee her lair with her only
surviving, and soon to be hatching, egg.  Lucky for Dyanisa the mother
didn't live long enough afterwards to hunt down the pesky little lurking
near by.  The joining had been entirely Sienra's fault, but that was
probably the best thing that had ever happened to Dyanisa in her entire life.

        <Thank you>, a smug voice whispered in her skull.

        Dyanisa glanced down at the dragon head near her leg with a smile
ghosting her lips.  Yes, definately a thank you for the pack of
wolves/snakes or what ever they were.  Not that everything hadn't gone down
hill from there.  Dyanisa was a good hunter, but even the greatest couldn't
feed a hungry hatchling in the waste.  Unless you were a dragon, naturally.
Her good mood fled. Sienra was entirely too thin for her liking, and she was
not in the best of shape herself.

        The waste, however, was nothing compared to the towns.  At least she
understood the waste.  Dyanisa couldn't even understand what was being said
half the time.  People even went so far as to throw stones at her and Sienra
in the first town.  What for, Dyanisa couldn't even imagine.  She had left
ten minutes after her arrival.  After that, Dyanisa avoided them and stuck
to the roads.  She could only find rabbits and an occasional peasant for
dinner in the woods along the roadway.  Frankly she had been better fed in
the waste.  But all the herds of big animals were guarded by men and
Dyanisa's bruises from the first town were enough reason for her to stay away.

        She looked at the jolly man sitting at the reins.  He had come
driving down the road while she had been sleeping.  He woke her up and said
something about "Daere Warren" and motioned her to hop in the wagon.
Dyanisa had and Sienra had followed.  He looked harmless enough and if need
be her knives were always ready.  He had even given her a half a slice of
bread, all of which had gone to Sienra.

        The man turned around from his seat.  A bunch of words poured out of
his mouth, some of which she even understood.  Something about the Warren.
The wagon creaked around a corner and rolled to a stop before the side road
to Daere warren.  With a knod of her head at the man, she stepped down and
helped Sienra.  A wave of dizziness caught her but she shook it off and
slowly, but determinedly, started down the road.
       
        Submitted by Bridget Olson.