*Its just a few minutes walk ahead of us.  I found it as I was coming up
from burrowing.*  Sheava sent through the bond as the pair traveled through
the forest.  *I thought I would come back to get you before I went in.  It
might have something to do with your recurring nightmare.*

     *I hope so.  I need to find some answers soon or I might just go
insane1* He replied.  *Hey Sheava, it might be a good idea if you fly around
and do some scouting before we trap ourselves in.  If the vision was correct
then there might still be some of the attackers left.*  While strong and
quick, Peren knew that they were no match for an organized force of dragon
riders.

     *Of course.  Wait for me, I'll return soon and we can go in, there
should be enough room for the both of us. *  With that, Sheava flew off
leaving Peren with a sense of awe and amazement at the grace and agility of
the sleek, wingless, dragon.    *Ahh...to be that free...* He thought, and
heard a mental chuckle from her as she flew out of his field of vision.

     For what seemed like hours, but was really only minutes, Peren searched
for the tunnel entrance that Sheava had found.  Hidden well, he finally
spotted it in the side of a small hillock covered with earth and shrubbery.
He could tell immediately that it was no natural made tunnel.  The stone was
smooth and worked.  There was writing in some obscure language that Peren
could not read written at the edges of the entranceway.  Right above it was
a faint impression of a woman with the wings of  a bird.  In one hand
holding a sword in the other what looked to be a cauldron.   He could not
see more than a yard or so into the tunnel; its sharp slope downward obcured
his view.  He decided to wait for Sheava before entering the tunnel.

     Sitting crosslegged on the ground, Peren attempted to tune himself in
to the surrounding land.  He let his thoughts wander and his vision go
blurry.  After a few minutes, the altering of his conscious state was
complete.  He saw his surroundings as colored clouds mingling and
interacting.  Sounds would come to him as stronger streams with definite
form and scents would come as tiny explosions, quickly fading away.  Being
careful not to lose himself in the connection, Peren began expanding his
field of vision in larger and larger concentric circles.  He was overwhelmed
by the natural "design" that was created when all of the life forces
interacted.    There was, however, one rather large spot that did not seem
to fit within the order of things.  It was far from his current physical
location, and he didn't want to investigate until his draconic companion
returned.  So many mysteries of late....he mused, drawing his consciousness
back into his physical body and decreasing his connection with the land
around him.

     From out of the tunnel came an infinitely beautiful and complex
sound-stream.  It radiated a sense of power that Peren had never seen
before.  As it approached, Peren released the last of his hold on the
communion and came fully back to the normal conscious state.  While it was
addictive to remain connected to the greater all around him, he wanted to
hear in a normal manner what sound could have produced such an angelic
stream.

     As he heard the first quiet notes, he was instantly mesmerized.  It was
clearly a woman singing but it was like no other sound he had ever heard.
He imagined all of nature lending its voice to the deceptively simple tune.

     Without a thought for Sheava or a concern for his own safety, he
started into the tunnel, slipping and knocking himself into walls, desperate
to find the source of the music; but frightened at the same time of what he
might encounter that could create such beauty.

----------------------

Flying higher and higher, Sheava searched the surrounding area for anything
that could be considered a danger.   Every so often, she would feel for the
bond she shared with Peren, taking comfort from their joining.  She felt a
slight numbing as part of his very essence expanded with his link to the
land. It frightened her when he did this.  She didn't understand his
ability, and she feared that one day he would lose himself and their bond
would be broken.  She felt as if she was competing with whatever he
connected to for his attention.

     As she flew farther she bagan to sense an empathic presence of
something familiar.  Faster she flew trying to latch onto the presence and
discover its origin.  With a shudder and a draconic version of a chill she
realized that the feeling was coming from one of HER kind, another Wyrm.
*But this far from home?  Why is it here?*  She was apprehensive of
encountering the beast, but strangely excited at the same time.

     At almost the same instant, she could feel something intrude upon her
bond with Peren.  She mentally "saw" some force wrap itself around her
companion and cut her off little by little.   From what little impressions
she was still recieving from him, she knew that he had entered the tunnel.
In a frantic daze, she plummeted toward the earth, aiming herself in the
straightest, most direct line that would take her to him.  With a rush of
anger, and a touch of rage she began breathing heavily, feeling crystalline
shards begin to form and line her throat.  She concentrated on the force
that was stripping her bond with Peren and could only think of the pleasure
she would have when she completely and utterly destroyed it.

     In her mad rage, Sheava never noticed the enourmous and graceful dragon
following her at a safe distance.  This, of course, was Jismin's plan from
the beggining.

--------------------

     The singing suddenly stopped.  Peren felt a wrench at his insides as if
something was physically squeezing and just released him.  He began to run
down the tunnel faster, hoping that whatever had created such music would
not have disappeared.   He saw the flickering of a torch that lit his way
for the last few yards.  The tunnel opened into a large room that reminded
Peren of the grand cathedrals that his father had dragged him to as a child.
Although he noticed that there were many pillars, each seeming to have a
complex amount of detail and precision, he did not bother to closely examine
the rest of the room.

     At the far end of the room, a man was kneeling. As Peren approached he
could see that there was a beautiful woman lying on the floor.  The stranger
noticed Peren's approach and began to turn, raising the dagger that he had
taken back from Wade after their short struggle..  Peren stopped, and
offered
his friendliest smile to the stranger.

     "Is she alright?" Peren asked, thinking that she must have been the one
to sing the entrancing song.  "She looks hurt."  He stammered, feeling
stupid, but not being able to take his eyes off of her.

     "Oh, she'll be alright just as soon as I take her home and take care of
her."  He lowered the dagger and turned toward Wade.  "We were just
exploring the ruins when she tripped and fell. Are you here alone?"  Peren
began to feel a chill up his spine as the stranger talked.   Something was
wrong, but he could not place the odd feeling.

      "No, I've come with a friend."  Peren said, thinking of Sheava and
hoping she would be able to find him.   He watched as the stranger removed a
bandage from the pack he carried and wrap it around Wade's head.  Peren
thought the man's actions were done in  a gruff manner with little concern
for the woman's safety but didn't get the chance to say so.

     "I have a...mount outside of the tunnels.  I'm going to bring her
home," the stranger said, "you're welcome to come outside with me."  Saying
that, he hoisted Wade onto his shoulders and turned, quickly walking away
from Peren, who had to rush in order to keep up.  Once outside the room, the
stranger  spun around.  "Here, hold this to light our way."  With a very
unfriendly shove, he gave Peren the torch he had been carrying, and then
shifted Wade to a better position.

     The two men walked down the tunnel in silence, each uncomfortable with
the presence of the other.  "The entrance is just up ahead."  the stranger
said, keeping a steady pace.  Exiting the tunnel, Peren stopped, mouth
agape.  Outside, resting on the cool ground, was the biggest dragon that
Peren had ever seen.  The beast looked exactly like Sheava only on a much
larger scale.  Peren traced the outlines of the patterns on its scales with
his eyes.  The dragon lazily lifted its head off the ground and looked at
him.  With a bored-sounding snort the beast lowered his head and watched as
the two men approached.

    Crossing the distance between themselves and the beast, the stranger
flopped Wade onto it's back, seemingly unconcerned for her injuries.  He
strapped her in and turned to face Peren.  "Well, don't worry about her,
I'll take REAL good care of her..."  He gave Peren a leering grin, and
looked once more at Wade.

It was the grin that sparked Peren's memory.

-----------------------------

     Sheava plummeted to the earth.  There was no thought, no sense of self
or place, just a being created of pure rage.  As she fell, the presence of
the other wyrm grew stronger.  She reached out to Peren through the rapidly
weakening mental bond.  If it was the other wyrm causing this, she would
link to it through him and burn it out before it could cause anymore damage.

     But it was not the beast that was causing this.  Sheava could not place
where the intruding force was coming from.  It was surrounding Peren but
seemed to be from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.  While not giving
it any thought, she made the instinctive decision to kill the beast anyway.
It had crossed a territorial line and would now be dealt with.  She would
find the source of the pervading force and kill IT too.

      With no warning, the force was gone.  Sheava felt the bond she shared
with Peren stregnthen and grow even again.   It's lock on :Peren had
dissapeared without a trace of what it was.  Sheava, however, was too mad
with rage to consider changing her course of action.   The beast would die,
and she would kill it, or she would die; and in the process, she would STILL
kill it.

     She could see the ground approach at a rapid pace.  Changing her
direction slightly, she prepared for the emminent battle.

-----------------------------

     "You bastard." Peren looked at the strange man, seeing only the face of
the murderer in his vision, the leering face that hunted his victim down in
cold blood.  "It was you!  You were the leader of the group that destroyed
this place!"  Peren's hand went to his belt where he whipped out the large
utility knife strapped to his waist.

     The murdere gave him a sardonic grin as he drew the dagger he wore;
Wade's stolen dagger.  "Oh." he said to Peren with a mocking voice and a
gleaming eye. "Why yes.  Thas was me, wasn't it?  A pity I didn't burn down
the underground ruins as well... But, you see," he said, patting the side of
the black dragon next to them, "my pet was tired, and he did such a good job
at the surface level, i thought he could take a break."

     The man lunged at Peren, who backed up and barely missed the swinging
blade.   He ran around the side of the beast desperately stabbing at the
bonds that held Wade captive.  The wyrm attempted to get away with the woman
but Peren held firm to the straps that tied down to its back.  He sawed at
the straps frantically, realizing that he could not hold the beast down for
long.  , Finally, it slapped at Peren with its tail, knocking him a good
five feet away.  But by this time, Wade had
been freed.  As the wyrm began to turn to face Peren more squarely. she slid
off its back and lay on the ground in a heap.   The man, dagger upraised,
charged at Peren.  With a clash of steel, the two exchanged blows, neither
having an advantage.  The wyrm was now airborne.  Noticing this, the
murderer backed away from Peren to get out of the beast's way.  The beast
growled low, and began its dash toward Peren.  It was a huge dragon and
would have crushed Peren on impact.

     From out of the sky came a long and piercing shriek.  With a rush,
Sheava let loose the full force of her anger at the beast by releasing a
stream of razor sharp crystalline shards.   The spray caught the astonished
beast broadside, and it howled in pain.  Sheava followed throught by ramming
into the side of the larger  dragon and both tumbled to the ground.  The
murderer, seeing the oncoming Sheava tried to get behind Peren, realizing
that the beast would not be able to remove the threat.  Peren, standing
transfixed by the draconic combat, was unaware of the blade behind him just
waiting to strike.  With a cry of pain, Peren fell, as the  dagger drank
deep of his blood.   In an answering cry, Sheava stopped her attack on the
beast.  It was enough of a pause to enable the larger dragon to rake its
claws down the side of Sheava's smaller body.

     Left where she fell,  Wade slowly opened her eyes.  The light that
streamed in welcomed her to the scene of mass confusion.


-----------------

-Justin Plank
Peren and Sheava (though not at the same time ;o)




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