Soren:
-----------
Soren was surprised by the small cough and turned to see a young 
brown-haired woman standing not too far from where he and Liam were 
talking.  He hadnāt heard her come up.  True, he wasnāt the most 
observant person in the world, but with a stone floor, he was sure he 
should have heard her.      

Liam flashed a bright smile and asked, "Can we be of any help?"

The young woman smiled in return and replied, "My name is Caliban, 
Luteās rider and I am looking for the Warren Ladyās office."

Liam pointed her in the right direction, but before she could leave, 
Soren, who was bursting with curiosity at this new rider from afar, 
asked, "Excuse me, but what are you doing here?".  The moment the words 
were out, he knew they werenāt what he wanted ... and could be received 
very badly.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Liam fighting hard to suppress 
laughter.  Caliban, after a quick glance at Liam, gave him a brief look 
over.  She must have decided he was harmless, because she simply smiled 
and said, "Iām here to look at some old records."

Soren knew he might be going over the line with another question, but he 
couldnāt help himself.  

"Why ... if you donāt mind my asking."

"Because I love studying history."

He contented himself with that answer, although he would have loved to 
ask a few more questions.  He had to remember that he was a stranger 
here and he didnāt want to offend anyone ... heād already done enough of 
that today.

The young woman headed off and Liam, shaking his head, put a hand on 
Sorenās shoulder and started walking across the green.  

"Are you always that blunt?" Liam couldnāt keep a straight face as he 
asked.

"Well ... no, not exactly.  Itās just ... this place is so new and I 
want to find out all that I can."

"Donāt worry about that.  For the next few weeks, all youāll be doing is 
learning and if youāre lucky enough to be joined, youāll have more weeks 
of learning ahead of you.  By the time itās all said and done, youāll be 
sick of learning new things."

"I donāt think so, sir."

Liam laughed.  "Probably not ... and donāt call me sir.  My name is 
Liam, remember?"

Soren smiled and nodded.

<..>

Soren met his first dragon that afternoon.  Lasher was smaller than some 
dragons he had seen, but he was real and he was close by and that was 
all that mattered to Soren.  Liam stood and watched as Soren circled the 
dragon twice, his eyes moving fast to try and capture every little 
detail.

When Liam asked if he wanted to help with the dragonās care, Soren was 
so excited he could barely answer.  Liam gave him the materials and 
instructed him on what he was to do and then stood back and watched for 
a second.

Soren hesitantly stepped forward and put his hand on the dragon.  The 
feel of the scales underneath his fingers brought a smile to his face. 
He would have stood there with his hand caressing the dragonās scales 
all day if Liam hadnāt prodded him a little.

"Are you going to help me or just stand there all day touching him?"

Soren snapped out of his daze and mumbled an apology.  Liam just 
laughed.

It took him a few reminders from Liam and a few grumbles from Lasher to 
get it down, but he finally figured out what he was doing.  It was about 
the time that he had figured things out when everything went crazy.

Angry roars sounded in the air and Soren was so startled he nearly fell 
off Lasher.  He and Liam looked to the source of the noise and saw a 
sheet of flame fill the sky and a dragon fall to the ground, black and 
charred beyond recognition.  Soren was dumfounded ... but Liam was 
moving before the dead dragon hit the ground.

The trainer jumped down, shouting for Soren to get off ... which he 
didnāt do quick fast enough for Lasher who rolled over and threw the boy 
onto the ground.  Liam paused long enough to see Soren stand and then he 
was on the dragon and in the air.

Soren watched from the ground as more dragon appeared in the air, flew 
into the cave he had ventured into earlier, come out again and vanish. 
It all happened so quick.  Liam hadnāt even made it across the green by 
the time it was all over.  

Soren started moving across the green.  As he crossed, dragons started 
coming out of the woodwork.  They were everywhere, the sounds of their 
calls and the shouts of their riders meshing into a crescendo of noise.  

He ran into Caliban halfway across the green.  She looked nearly as 
confused as he felt and about as out of place as he knew he was.  He 
almost asked her if she knew what to do, but then the Queen arrived and 
all eyes turned to her.    

She came in with an urgency that ignored caution.  Dragons and humans 
alike fled before her, clearing a path for her flight into the cave.  
Silence descended on the entire warren for a second as everyone 
collectively held their breath.

The cries that came from the cave were so filled with sorrow that Soren 
shivered.  Then a tree that was standing near the cave entrance went up 
in flames ... it burned so fiercely that it almost looked like a beacon 
light, testifying to the world that a terrible thing had happened.  And 
then the flames were gone and all that was left of the tree was a 
handful of ashes.

At this point Soren was thoroughly confused and lost.  Caliban, seeing 
the expression on Sorenās face, took his arm and steered him away from 
the cave.

"We canāt be of any help right now, Soren.  Itās best just to stay out 
of the way."

Soren nodded, knowing she was right.  He gave an half-hearted laugh and 
asked, "Are things always like this?"

Caliban shook her head sadly.  "No, thankfully they arenāt.  We just 
picked a bad day to arrive."

[Tag Les - if you have anything to add]

<..>

Things settled down after a bit and Liam re-appeared, covered with soot 
and looking very tired.  He clapped a hand on Sorenās shoulder and said, 
"Letās find a place for you to stay.  I know youāre probably bursting 
with questions, so hold off a bit and Iāll see if I can explain what 
happened today."

Soren nodded and followed, but he couldnāt help wondering what kind of 
life he was getting into.

_______________________________
"In the beginning the Universe was created.  This has made a lot of 
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."  - The 
Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams

Submitted by Ben Tate
Galen - Norwall
Soren - Geode


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