Fae'Rhee
************

She didn't like it here.

Not one bit.

It wasn't someplace she wanted to be, but with all those eggs on the
hatching sands she knew they had to look in places like this now that the
usual places had been searched and researched over and over. 

Though maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to come here on her own. Maybe
it might have been better to wait until T'rell could have come with her. But
she had something to prove to him after the scene at the fair when she'd had
to go out into the mud to ask that pig fighter if he wanted to come to the
Warren for the joining.

She could still hear T'rell laughing his damn fool head off when she had
slipped and landed face first in the mud. It had been so embarrassing.
Especially when all those around them had started to laugh at her with him. 

It was worse later after he'd told one person at the Warren and the Big Oaf
had regaled anyone who would listen about it, and how he'd come to be there
in the Warren waiting for the eggs to hatch.

"Covered in muck she was... just like one of us wrestlers... why I kept
expecting her to jump up and yell soooeeeey..."

They had all laughed at her and it had hurt her bad.

To salvage her pride, she had sworn to go out on her own and bring back more
searchlings then T'rell. That was what had brought her to this place today. 

She'd show him and all the rest of them too!

And now she was regretting the decision made in hurt and anger. For from the
looks of the men and women in this bar, she knew she wouldn't find anyone
worth searching here. 

She stayed though. Wondered up to the bar and asked for a glass of water,
then turned back to face the crowd as if hoping her second look around 
would provide her with a subject she'd missed on her first look around.

No such luck. Except for the three men siting at a table about ten feet 
from her, no one else was paying her much mind.

She looked away when one of the men got up and started towards her. She'd
hoped that by offering him her back, he would take the hint that she wasn't
interested in talking to him, but this didn't prove the case.

"Hey now sweet thing... how's about joining me and my mates for a little
drink and maybe later some fun. I hear you riders up at the Warren really
enjoy a fun time."

"You heard wrong," she told him, wishing he would just go away. He seemed
like trouble and that was the last thing she needed right now.

"Hey I remember her.....Sooooeeeeey.... she's the one who ended up eating 
a face full of pig muck while trying to come on to Big Oaf!!" one of the
other men at the table called out and others in the room turned to look at
her and then she heard them all start to laugh. "Bet she showed him a good
time back at that Warrenplace."

She set the empty glass down on the bar, wanting only to leave this place
and go back home to her room at the Warren. She took two steps towards the
door when the first man stepped in to block her path.

"Ah.. come on sweetness...what's ya hurry?" Fae'Rhee looked up startled 
when his hand moved to close around her arm and started to pull her 
towards the table he'd been sitting at with his friends.

"Let go of me please... need to leave." She tried to pull her arm out of 
his grip, but he refused to left her go.

"Not till you have one tiny little drink with us, and give us a chance to
change your mind." He told her leaning close so that she got a big whiff of
his bad breath. "We all know how much you warren rider love a good party...
we do too and will show you a good time if you're nice to us!"

Her fear gave her added strength as she pushed against him with all her
might and gained her release. She turned and hurried towards the door as 
if the hounds of hell were after her, not stopping until she was outside 
in the nights cool air and was able to lean against the wall, taking 
several deep breaths before turning to go back to where she left Alustriel
waiting for her.

Yes.. she'd be okay once she reached Alustriel and the two of them 
returned to the Warren. 

She had no warning as the evening starts suddenly were cut off and an arm
closed around her. She cried out for her life mate but it was too late....

...............

The patrons inside all heard the loud roar coming from outside but few
understood what it was. No one got up to go take a look, thinking it was
just the dragons way of protesting the little bit of fun they'd been having
with her rider. The nervous laughed filled the bar as orders for new drinks
were called out and sometime later things returned to normal.

It wasn't until the bar closed it's door at the end of the evening and
Gasser, the bar's owner decided to go around in back of the building to
relive himself that anyone discovered what had really happened. 

He stepped behind the building and noticed the lid for to dumpster was open
and he thought he'd remembered to close it when he'd come out to empty the
trash earlier. Well maybe he'd forgotten, but would do so now as he didn't
want the rodents to make their home inside of the container. 

He nearly wet himself as he saw her lying there amongst the trash... dressed
ripped from neck to hem and her body twisted in a weird way. He could see
her face had been badly beaten and the blood that stained the neck line of
her shirt reviled the cause of her death.

"Hey  Gasser!" someone called out to him when he hadn't come right back. 

"Oh ma'gods...." the second voice called softly when he arrived and saw the
scene before him. "What in the hell did you do!?!" the man cried stunned.
"Goddammit she was a rider from the Warren... they're gonna be hell to pay now!"

"Not if no one knows.." Gasser tuned to him begging for help. "Look nobody
else knows we found her here... and I didn't do this... you got to believe
me... sides I was inside all night.... but if we hide the body where no one
will ever find her then who can say we knew anything about it!!!!"

"But they saw her inside of here tonight!!" the man shouted as quietly as he
could and kept glacing back over his shoulder as if expecting riders from
the Warren to show up and find them. "This'll be the first place they look!!"

"So what?" Gasser told him. "Everyone inside saw her leave. What happened
later isn't our fault!! Man you got to help me!!"

It took some convincing, but finally the man agreed to help the bar keep
move the body to a location they hoped no one would ever find it. 

After they were finished the went back to the alley behind the bar and
quickly cleaned up any evidence of what had taken place.

By the time morning had made itself known, both men had been in their beds
for a few hours satisfied they would never have to explain what had gone on. 

If riders from the Warren ever did show up asking questions......

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

Barbara....