Day 10 -- the beach.

Corwin raced towards the beach when the call went out.  Syngnath who had
only just flown his first flight loped behind him too tired to try another
flight.  As Corwin headed down the beach the little seadragon called to him.

<*It will be faster to swim!*>

Corwin stopped dead in his tracks and laughed,  <Yes, it would my friend!>
and the two dove into the surf.

The green water swept over them as they swiftly flew through the shallows
towards the area from where Ansel's call for help had come.  As they neared,
Syngnath noted other "voices" ahead of them.

<*There are other seadragons here!*>  He cried excitedly,  <*Oh, but they
are wild ones, my rider, and you should not be in the water where there are
wild seadragons...*>

Corwin swiftly swam to shore and ran the rest of the way to where he saw
Ansel standing among a nest of hatchlings.

<SNIP FROM JOHN'S POST>
>>
    "Ansel!" someone shouted.  He turned to see Corwin running down the
beach toward him.

     "Over here!" he said, waving.  "Help me get the hatchlings into the
water...if we do, the queen will leave!"

     A large, green dragon-shape suddenly slid out of the water, and for a
second Ansel thought the queen had come back. He breathed a sigh of relief
when he saw that the newcomer was nowhere near the queen's size, and a
moment later he recognized Syngnath.  "Come on," said Corwin.  "Syngnath
will help too!"

     Together, Ansel and Corwin began herding the hatchlings out of the nest
and into the surf.  Syngnath helped too, using his wings and tail to guide
any who seemed inclined to wander off in any other direction.  He hoped they
could do it in time to get the queen away from the beach before she hurt
anyone.<<
<END SNIP>

They managed to herd all but one of the hatchlings out into the sea.
Syngnath led them out telling them the wonders of swimming in the ocean --
and where they could find their first meal of fish among the seaweeds.

All but one hatchling went.  The one stood with its feet firmly planted in
the sands as Ansel tried to shove it with all his might.

>Ansel turned desperately to Corwin.  "Tell Syngnath to help me!" he
>said.  "He's big enough to push Khamorray into the water!"

Corwin nodded, <Sy, come back!  There is one left and he won't leave!>

Elly and Iris, circling overhead, saw the dilemma and landed nearby to see
if they could help.

> Syngnath began to move toward the stubborn hatchling.  He stopped,
> though, when another dragon roared from the heights above.  All
> three of them turned to see Fayloth, his eyes glistening intently as he
> spoke to Syngnath.
>
> "What's he saying?" Ansel demanded, forgetting in his agitation that
> he could have asked Fayloth directly.

Corwin looked at Syngnath, <What is Fayloth saying?>

<*That they are joined;  Ansel and Khamorray.  Like you and me.  He can't
go.*>

> Corwin's mouth opened in surprise.  "Lad, don't push him," he said,
> turning back to look at Ansel.  "He won't go."
>
>     "He has to go!" Ansel declared.
>
>     [He cannot,] Syngnath said, his mindvoice pushing its way through
> the barriers that Ansel's agitation had placed in his mind.  [Fayloth
> has seen something you need to know about.]

Ansel looked confused and scared as Syngnath relayed what Fayloth had seen.
"But... he's a seadragon!"

Corwin chuckled, "Well, seadragon or not, looks like you are stuck with
him."

"But the others are all leaving!"  Elly noted.  "Do you think that the queen
knows?"

<Your hatchlings are getting away, wilder. You had better follow them,> Iris
called to the seadragon queen.

"I think she's bound to notice."  Corwin stated as he apprehensively looked
in the direction that the other dragons had gone.

At that moment a larger greenish dragon appeared over the dune heading their
way.

"And like it or not... here comes his dam... and if we don't want to be her
lunch, I suggest we leave this area at once!"  Corwin's hand squeezed the
boy's shoulder as he propelled him along the beach, back towards the warren.

Syngnath guided Khamorray out into the water and they swam along following
their humans.

Iris and Elly swiftly moved out of harm's way and rejoined the other
trainees, including Lainie and Selene, up on the dunes.  Elly reached Lainie
and the two sisters grinned at each other, sharing the excitement that this
day had brought.

****
The Barracks.

Ansel sat down on the edge of a currently vacant bunk and looked around him
amazed.  "So, you mean I'm a dragonrider now?"

"Looks like it, Lad."  Corwin said as he pulled out some clean, dry clothes.

The little seadragon curled up in the sand on the dragon side of the
chamber.

"He says he wishes the sand was wet?"  Ansel looked up surprised.

"Yah, Sy always says that, too.  I think seadragons like damp nests, unlike
their landdragon cousins."  Corwin answered as he stripped off his wet
clothes, getting ready to take his shower.

"He's hungry."  Ansel looked up surprised.

At that moment, as if reading his mind, Danis followed by Elly and Lainie,
came in each carrying a bucket of meat.

"We brought your hatchling something to eat...."  Danis's eyes widened in
surprise as she caught site of Corwin standing near the shower, bare naked.

Elly quickly stepped in front of the other two, but she was too short to
block their view.  And what a view it was!

The two women behind her giggled and nudged each other.

"Oh, pardon us," Lainie exclaimed in mock distress.

Corwin grinned, not even attempting to cover himself.  "You ladies are just
in time.  Ansel was just saying that Khamorray is hungry.  Now if you'll
excuse me, I was about to shower this salt off me."

"Don't hurry off on our account,"   Danis grinned.

"I'm certainly glad we weren't late, aren't you Elly?" Lainie commented to
Corwin's retreating posterior.

Elly elbowed her sister, "You'll be late -- the late Lainie -- if you don't
keep quiet."

Lainie started to giggle and then the three dissolved into a fit of
laughter.

Khamorray, however, smelling the meat, interrupted further comments by
reminding them all of his presence.  The three women then helped Ansel feed
his hatchling, which helped cement their bond.

****
TAG: John, Dana and Louise -- will the ladies stay around for the toweling
off?

Respectfully submitted by
Arlene Jacobs
AKA Corwin rider of Syngnath of Jasra Warren.