The all-out combat had begun.  Christalla wished she could be 
with them, take some part of the risk, but she knew better.  She was not 
allowed to risk her life like that -- Kaeryth, as an egg-layer, was too 
valuable.  However, there was plenty to do at Keldarra.  Christalla was 
in constant motion, coordinating the support effort of the unjoined 
dragonfolk. 

	Almost half and hour after Aleta and M'ressan left for 
Ralengarde with reinforcements, Christalla was hurrying across the 
Warren grounds when she heard the raised voices of two people in 
argument.  She turned to investigate.  Verran, a retired old dragonrider 
who was now in charge of coal distribution, was shouting at a dark-haired 
young woman with a red dragon.

	"What seems to be the problem, dragonriders?" she asked civilly 
as she arrived, raising her voice just enough to be heard.

	Verran turned in surprise, and offered a quick bow.  
"DragonLady!" he said.  "I was just trying to get rid of this nuissance.  
She wants me to waste my coal on her dragon."

	Christalla was floored.  "You're REFUSING COAL to a combat 
dragonrider??" she demanded.  "We need all the help we can get at 
Ralengard!" 

	Verran shook his head in fierce disgust.  "She's not one of 
ours," he spat.

	At this point the young woman stepped forward.  "I am Hedda," 
she said, "and this is my dragon Lannith.  We are currently without 
Warren." 

	Christalla nodded, surprised.  A Warrenless dragonrider.  These 
were seldom seen near Keldarra, and those who were often were sent away 
in shame.  Dragonrider society had little place for people who had 
rejected the warrens.  Christalla was filled with a sudden pity.  She 
wondered what had driven this young woman to make herself an outcast.

	She turned to Verran, blue eyes flashing.  "You will give this 
dragon as much coal as she needs," she told the coalmaster icily.  "If 
Hedda is willing to risk her life for Ralengarde, we're going to help her 
as much as she needs."  Verran's eyes widened; then he looked away in 
disgust and began barking orders to his underlings.

	Christalla then turned to Hedda.  "You're doing a brave thing, 
and I want you to know it's appreciated.  You're welcome at Keldarra 
whenever you want a place to rest."

	Hedda was obviously moved.  "Thank you, DragonLady," she choked.

**********

	The wounded were starting to filter in from the battle above 
Ralengarde.  Christalla stayed at the medical center to oversee the 
treatment of the wounded, but there was really little she could do.  The  
doctors and nurses were adept at their work, and yet they seemed 
comforted by being able to turn to her for directions, to have some 
feeling that they were not ultimately responsible.

	The medical center was a stone building sitting on the side of 
the lake that Keldarra used for its water.  It was was deliberately kept 
apart from the rest of the Warren because of the occassional plague.  
Now it was filled with moaning, wounded Humans.  Outside, the wounded 
dragons lay on the grass.  Wraith injuries were terrible -- wraiths 
consumed flesh that they came in contact with.  The injuries in Humans 
didn't heal easily, and often left terrible scars.  Dragons, at least, 
did seem to heal well.

	Christalla only came close to losing her composure once -- when 
Aleta's mate M'tan was brought in.  He was the Alpha wing wingsecond and 
had led the half-wing that had held off the wraiths until M'ressan and 
Aleta had arrived with backup.  Most of those original dragons and riders 
were here with some kind of serious injury, but M'tan was one of the 
worst.  A wraith had caught him in the side of the face, and his hands 
were also bloody from ripping the thing off himself.  His grey dragon 
Zareth had taken even worse.

	<I'm going to go mad,> she thought in dispair.

	Kaeryth sent strong, comforting thoughts, and Christalla clung to 
them for stability.  Even though there were many yards different between 
the DragonLady and the Empress in the Hatching Cavern, the telepathic 
link was unhindered by distance.

	<Most of these dragons and riders have never seen wraith combat 
before,> she thought timidly.  <It's not fair that they should hurt so 
much!> 

	<They are learning,> Kaeryth responded.  <This is the way of 
life.>  Christalla wanted to insist that it wasn't fair, but she knew 
Kaeryth was right...it just hurt.  <Come to me,> the dragon sent at 
last.  <I need you with my eggs.  My children are going to hatch soon.>

	Christalla sighed.  She knew that Kaeryth was trying to pull her 
away from the source of distress, but she also knew that there 
wasn't much more she could do at the medical center.  M'ressan was a 
trained healer, but Christalla could only offer support.  <I'll be there 
as soon as I can,> she answered.

**********

	She was walking up the hill to the warren proper when she heard 
the sounds of dragons trumpeting.  She cried out in relief and joy and 
ran the rest of the way.  The battle was over!  The warriors were coming 
home.  She used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun and watched the 
sky.

	Suddenly, the air above the warren was filled with dragons of all 
colors and sizes.  They joined in the trumpeting, and the warrenfolk 
cheered.  When a certain red dragon had landed, Christalla threw herself, 
laughing with relief, into M'ressan's waiting arms.  

	"Ouch!" he exclaimed as they embraced.

	"You're hurt??" Christalla demanded.

	M'ressan laughed, showing her a shallow gash in his shoulder.  
"Not much," he admitted, "and it wasn't even by wraiths.  Alanth and I 
got so caught up in the fighting that we didn't dodge falling debris 
properly."  Behind him, Alanth rumbled with mock-sullenness, turning his 
huge brown eyes on the couple.

	"We'll get you a bandage for that as soon as thing die down a 
little," Christall insisted, but she was definitely relieved.  "Come in 
and rest, my love.  There will be a feast this evening, and already we're 
receiving landbound guests for the hatching."

	M'ressan pulled her back.  "There was one more thing I wanted to 
talk to you about," he said, looking a bit nervous.

	"What's wrong?" she asked.

	He shook his head.  "I just spent some time fighting with a 
brilliant young fighter named Hedda, and I'd like to see her in my wing.  
The only problem is that she's --"

	"Warrenless," Christalla finished, grinning.  "I've already met 
her.  She's welcome here any time she sees fit."

	M'ressan looked at her in bewilderment.  "How--" 

	Laughing, Christalla turned away from him and headed into the 
lower warren.

**********

	Christalla spent the few hours before the feast greeting 
landbound guests who had arrived for the hatching and screening a few 
unjoined warren girls for the queen in her office.  

	There were startlingly few girls that she found that were 
suitable for the unique demands of an egg-laying female.  There was one, 
however, that she found uniquely promising.  Evelle was the child of two 
dragonriders that Christalla was familiar with, and dragonriding was 
strong in her family.  More than that, she had a certain femininity that 
seemed unsuited to combat riding.

	Unfortunately, the young girl seemed to be riding her whole 
identity on the need to join with a dragon.  Christalla understood the 
need...she'd felt it herself at that age...but she didn't want to raise 
the girl's hopes and then dash them.  Christalla had been screening 
candidates for so long that she could see dragon affinity as an almost 
tangible aura around someone, and this girl definitely had the aura.  But 
that didn't mean she'd join at THIS hatching.

	"Of course, I want you to be a hatching candidate," she said at 
last.  "You're certainly qualified and young enough.  But I do have a 
different proposition for you."

	Evelle looked at Christalla curiously.  "What kind of 
proposition?" 

	"Well, I'm putting together a special group of girl candidates at 
this hatching.  There's a queen egg in the clutch this time--"

	"A queen??" Evelle cut her off, her face flushed.

	Christalla had been afraid of that.  "Only one girl can join with 
that queen, but it won't prevent you from joining with unfertile females 
at the hatching," she qualified.

	"I understand!" Evelle said, her eyes still dancing as she left 
the DragonLady's office.  Christalla just hoped that everything turned 
out all right.

	However, the biggest surprise came when she went to greet the 
Master of the Guild of the Blade and his son.  To Christalla's 
astonishment, the boy had the aura!

	The Master offered Christalla a formal bow.  "DragonLady, I'm 
Ames BladeMaster," he said, trying to contain his excitement.  "This 
'ere's me son, David Swordson.  We're honored to be here for the 
hatching."

	Christalla smiled, bowing in return, though it was difficult to 
take her eyes off the boy.  "We're honored to have you," she replied.  "I 
hope you'll be so good as to join us for the feast tonight in honor of 
our warriors returning from Ralengarde."

	Ames' eyes twinkled.  "'O course!"

	Christalla took the BladeMaster's arm suavely and began to lead 
him and his wide-eyed son toward the banquet hall.  "There is one more 
thing I'd like to discuss with you and David," she admitted.

	"And what's that?" David asked, his voice still awed.  

	Christalla smiled at him.  "I would like David Swordson to be a 
candidate for the hatching."


Respectfully Submitted,

Susan Rati
Administrator, DragonLands

NRPG: Long, but it tied up a bunch of threads.  Everyone's invited to the 
banquet!  And after that the eggs will hatch.  Mike and Chris C. have 
characters now, so we're pretty set.  Chris C.'s will work better 
introduced later, and Mike's will be introduced about the time of the 
Hatching. 

Justin: I'm sure there's going to be plenty of surprise for David and 
Ames!  Take it away!

Judi: Feel free to add any conversation with Christalla, and certainly 
Evelle's reaction to the news.

Nathan: It's up to you to sum up the battle and write Hedda meeting 
M'ressan face-to-face.  I took the liberty of assuming she REALLY 
impressed him at Ralengarde :).

Chris A.: Sorry, I really couldn't see a way to fit Wynn into the story 
here.  But then, you wrote him as a loner.

Mike and Chris C.: Didn't want you to feel left out.  Jump in whenever 
you think the time is right.

     __
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