The division of Gamma into flights had gone better than Almiron expected
and the two flights had had some practices as separate units.  He had
adjusted to working with Hedda and the riders under him.  The first
exercise where Hedda had run taking herself out of commission and leaving
Almiron in charge had been nerve-wracking, but he had surprised himself
with his own calmness after his initial surprise-- those years of
leadership training under his father hadn't been wasted.

The flight had adjusted remarkably well to his odd grammar.  He knew he
spoke oddly, but had never mastered the differences between his own
grammar and that of the DragonLands-- the few times he had tried in the
past to adopt their grammar, he had only succeeded in being more
confusing, so he had given up trying.  In fact, many times when someone
quoted him back to himself, they had inserted the proper "a's" and "the's"
and "s's" themselves.  It was one thing less he had to worry about.

The next few days after the hatching went relatively smoothly, though they
were busy.  There were wing and flight exercises and patrols.  M'ressan
and Aleta had put out feelers to their wings for volunteers to transfer to
Gamma to even out the size of the three, but were waiting to do the actual
transfer until the newly-joined riders could be placed, so there were no
new riders to work in yet.

There was a hearing on V'rdeen that didn't directly involve him, though it
was talked about a lot and there was some resentment directed at him by
those who had allied themselves to V'rdeen, since, in their minds, the
investigation into V'rdeen had started with his suspicions that V'rdeen
had been behind the vandalism of his apartment.  He could feel that a
couple of the members of his flight were part of this group, though they
had, wisely, caused no trouble.

In addition, he had his leatherworking and had also paid a couple of
visits to Kershod.  It hadn't taken long for them both to conclude that
his size, strength and old injuries didn't suit him well to the forge. 
After a few minor burns that interfered with his ability to do the
meticulous work in leather, he decided to leave the forging of his needed
metal parts to those more suited to it.  Kershod accepted his apologies
with understanding and humour, and invited him to come by for more sword
practice.

He had noticed D'neor once or twice, watching him, though never obviously. 
He had considered striking up a conversation, but he always seemed to be
busy at the time.

He also had noticed that Michel no longer needed the eyepatch and seemed
to want to talk to him, but, likewise, time was a problem.  The power
required to regenerate an eye was massive and Almiron was disturbed to
discover he controlled such resources.  With such power came great
responsibility-- more than he wanted to face.

He was working in his shop when the call came.  <Marrid Warren has been 
attacked.  Wynn is calling Gamma to battle.  It seems Malk Bromitz is 
there as well.>

<Is Darlea going?> Almiron asked in concern.

<She has been sent to get help from the other warrens.>

Almiron sighed in relief and slipped off his vest and belt, pulling on a
leather riding jacket.  He secured the vest and belt and his other goods
behind lock and key and headed out, telling Darshan where to meet him and
having Darshan send the message on.  In order to be certain that an order
reached all members of a Wing, each flightleader and flightsecond was
responsible for contacting half of their flight, so Almiron had a list of
some dozen names of second flight members to be contacted, in case they
hadn't gotten the call from Malekith.  It was an efficient system. 

Hedda was occupied with getting details from Wynn, and left Almiron to 
run through the quick pre-flight check-- were all the saddles secure, all 
the riders paired with their partner or partners, was everyone present, 
was everyone properly clothed with gloves and jacket, and so on.  They 
quickly fueled, then, under Wynn's command climbed into the air, got into 
formation and teleported on his signal.

******

Kyven loaded medical supplies on the special saddle Aethnod wore.  From 
what he heard, it would be a bloody battle and Marrid Medical Center 
would be swamped.  He intended to be there as soon as the last wraith was 
turned to ash.  The last of the supplies secured, he stood back and 
inspected his choices.  Antibiotic salves, bandages, painkillers-- lots 
of painkillers.

And now to wait...

"Please, Ree," he said quietly to the air, "be careful."

******

They arrived high above the battle and flew down into it.  There was a 
constant keening going on from the Marrid dragons and they were flying 
erratically.  Already, their formation was ragged with holes left from 
dead or injured riders.  Wraiths had already gotten through to the ground 
where unjoined folk with torches were trying trying to handle the menaces.

He caught a glimpse of a black dragon out of formation, watching.  <That 
is Yenal,> Darshan informed him.  <His rider is the rogue, Malk.>  

They went through a few passes, with Alpha Wing to the left and above, and
a wing from another warren to the right.  The Marrid riders were in
trouble, and Wynn sent the second flight to aid them.  They had to pass
through a virtual curtain of wraiths to get there.  Almiron rode close to
Darshan through them, tearing off a wraith that attempted to latch onto
him.

The battle was a long one.  In short order, Beta Wing and wings from a 
couple of other warrens joined them in the combat.

Then, there wass the scream-- not a scream of someone injured, or 
grief-stricken, but of someone falling.  He turned his head and saw an 
indigo dragon in Alpha Wing diving after a falling human.  Its talons 
caught, but the material it caught tore under the sudden stress and he 
fell.  A couple of other dragons attempted to stop his descent, but in a 
few short, sickening seconds, he impacted feet-first, with the ground.  
The indigo didn't wink out.

<Darshan, was that-- >

<Iganeth's rider, S'brogh.  His saddle slipped.>

Almiron considered this, stunned.  Surely S'brogh had checked that the
saddle was secure?  His thoughts were interrupted by lancing pain.  A
wraith had slipped past his guard and attached itself to his leg.  He
couldn't reach it by hand, nor could Darshan turn to flame it.  Hedda was
fighting off three that had dived at her out of nowhere.  Almiron yanked
his sword out of its scabbard and felt his movement echoed in his saddle.

It was sliding.

He had no time to even register what had happened before the saddle slid 
from Darshan's neck entirely.  He saw a flash of talons and felt the jolt 
through his shoulders as Darshan's claws caught and held his riding 
jacket.  A brief burst of flames reduced the wraith on his leg to ash as 
he hung, staring at the ground hundreds of feet below.

<Picture Keldarra, pet, quickly!  And close to the ground.  My grip on 
you is poor.>

Almiron formed the image without effort and felt the sudden cold of
teleport and then warmth.  The silence at Keldarra was almost deafening
after the keening and screams at Marrid.  Darshan set him down gently and
landed beside him. 

<Are you okay, pet?>

<My leg's little hurt, but not bad.  What happened?  I checked saddle.  
It was secure.>

<The wraiths went after the saddle straps and ate through them.>

<Dear, Hehran, that must be what happened to S'brogh...>  Such a tactic 
on the part of the wraiths disturbed him greatly.  The saddles could be 
easily loosed this way, and thus take out a dragon-rider pair with ease.  
<Darshan, can you communicate with Marrid?>

<It is too great a distance, pet.>

Almiron mounted Darshan's bare neck.  <We must return then, and warn 
dragonrider of this.>

Respectfully submitted,
 Lynette R. F. Cowper
  Almiron and Darshan (and Kyven)

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 * Lynette R. F. Cowper       *     Official INWO NetRep & Goddess    *
 * lcowper@io.com             *        Circle of Janus Secretary      *
 * lcowper@indy.net           *   VP of P.U.R.P.L.E. (People United   *
 * http://www.io.com/~lcowper/*   Respecting Purple Legal Equality)   *
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 *     The INWO rulings I make are official.  All other opinions,     *
 *  discussions, deck ideas, card ideas, political beliefs, etc. are  *
 *  my own and not those of Steve Jackson Games, the Circle of Janus, *
 *                        or P.U.R.P.L.E.  Fnord.                     *
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