[New Year's Day--on the Green]

     The training session had been rigorous, and Arden wiped his brow as
he finished securing the last strap on Aesir's new saddle harness.  Arden
was surprised that there was even a saddle small enough for both him and
his dragon.  Archer, though, had scrounged one up from somewhere in the
warren and had it sent to him--"payment", he said, for the bet he'd lost
in their chess game from the previous night.  Arden had accepted the gift
politely, realizing that if he was going to find where he fit in this
strange, new place, that he was going to need to rely (for a while,
anyway) on whatever generosity came his way. 
     His thoughts were interrupted when Shaelesta came by, tugging on the
harness to test its fastness.  "Much better this time, Arden," she stated. 
"You'll want to do it just like this when your dragon is ready to fly." 
     Arden nodded appreciatively, and Shaelesta moved on. 
     <What did she say?> Aesir asked. 
     "She said we got it right this time," Arden informed him.  "I think
its because you finally stopped wiggling so much." 
     <Well...it was only natural.  After all, today was the first time I
ever had such a contraption affixed to me.  Don't you think _you_ might
wiggle a bit if someone secured such an apparatus to your person?>
     "That's a silly question," Arden replied.  "Why would anyone try to
put a dragon harness on me?  Anyway," he continued.  "Shae said it was
good enough for when you're ready to fly." 
     <Really?  Then let's go!>
     Arden stepped back, eying his dragon suspiciously.  "What do you
mean, 'let's go'.  You're still a baby.  You can't fly yet." 
     <Why not?>
     The question caught Arden off guard.  "Well, because...I don't know. 
I'm as new here as you are.  But the other riders said it takes a couple
of weeks before a dragon can fly."
     <I will have you know that I have been studying the other dragons
meticulously, and I have correlated the exercises we have been engaged in
with those observations.  I have every confidence I can duplicate their
performance.>
     Arden shook his head, struggling to follow exactly what Aesir had
told him.  "I don't think it works that way," he countered. 
     <Then think of it as an experiment,> Aesir offered. <If I get off the
ground, then my theory proves correct.  If not, then we will have
additional information to improve our chances for success on the next
attempt.>
     Arden paused, thinking over the dragon's proposal, unable to find a
flaw.  "Well,...OK we'll try," he said hesitantly, "but I still think
we're missing something." 
     Aesir sent an enthusiastic little, 'chortle'. <Climb on!> he
exclaimed, and the young dragon rider followed suit, climbing up and
securing himself in the saddle just as he had been shown. 
     "All right, I'm ready," Arden called. 
     Aesir nimbly stepped farther out onto the Green, his iridescent coat
shimmering in the late morning light.  The dragon paused a moment to sniff
the air, determining its speed and direction. He made a quarter turn to
his right, facing into the wind, and without further ceremony, began
racing down the Green, wings flapping furiously, his tail arched high over
his back. 
     Arden let out a whoop of delight as his dragon started his run.  He
remembered the thrill of riding on K'wen's dragon when he'd been rescued
the day after the big snowstorm.  Could Aesir really fly?  His own heart
was pounding with anticipation as they picked up speed.  "Go!  Go!" he
shouted, laughing at the excitement of the challenge. 
     In the next instant, Aesir's rolling, jarring motion vanished and the
ground receded below them.  "You're flying!" Arden yelled, thrilled beyond
all imagining.  "Yahooo!!!" 
     Aesir was equally caught up in the enthusiasm of the moment. <Oh,
this is _quite_ entertaining.  I think we will be doing a _lot_ of this.>
     Ideas and images filled Arden's head as Aesir's mind raced with
possibilities of all the things they might see, all the exploring they
could do.  "How far up are we?" he shouted to his companion. 
     <Not very high at all, I would think,> the dragon responded. <Hardly
more than the height of three adults of your kind.>
     About 20 feet, Arden judged.  More than high enough for a first try. 
Someday soon, they would be hundreds of feet in the air, and he could look
down upon all the world.  "I'll bet we surprised them," he said.  "Let's
turn back before they get worried." 
     Aesir's head swung around to peer at his young rider. <Umm....turn?>
     Arden's yellow eyes widened in disbelief.  "You mean you don't know
how to turn?!" 
     <Well...I suppose I didn't think the process through quite that
far---but don't worry, I have an idea of how it's accomplished.>
      "Then...do it!" 
     The dragon shifted his weight, rolling a bit to one side and dipping
his left wing.  Arden held on as Aesir banked sharply to the left, his
course veering back towards the direction they came.
     "Ease up!" Arden shouted.  "You're taking it too fast!" 
     The only response he got was a mentally muttered. <Uh-oh.>
     An instant later Aesir was doing a belly landing on the dewy grass,
his chin digging a small furrow along the ground as the pair skidded to a
halt.  The moment they were stopped, Arden 'blinked' out of his harness
and hopped to the ground to check on his friend. 
     "Are you OK?" he asked. 
     <How embarrassing,> the dragon replied, his head and neck laying on
the ground like some great, beached sea-creature.  From his tone, Arden
knew that all was well. 
     "Here come Shae and the others," Arden told him.  "Better get up and
let them see you're all right."
     Aesir was quick to respond, rising to his feet and doing his best to
look dignified as the other riders and their dragons approached. 
     "Are you two all right?" Shaelesta cried. 
     "Just fine," Arden assured her. 
      "Whatever possessed you to do that?" Shae continued.  "Arden, your
dragon is far too young to be flying." 
     Arden shrugged.  "Tell _him_ that, not me," he answered.  Despite the
seriousness of her question, he was unable to wipe the grin from his face. 
There was just no hiding the excitement generated by their little
'experiment.'
     Shae relaxed a little.  "Well, it seems the two of you are OK.  But
you'd better talk to M'ressan before you decide to try anything like that
again.  You surprised everyone." 
     Arden did his best to look apologetic.  "We're sorry.  I guess we
just got caught up with the idea.  We'll do better next time--promise." 
     "I think we've done enough for this session," Shae answered.  "Why
don't you and Elswyth get your dragons un-harnessed and your gear put
away.  After that..." she paused, letting out a small sigh.  "The trial is
coming up this afternoon.  I don't know if either of you was planning on
being there.  If not, maybe M'ressan can come up with something for you 
to do." 
     Elswyth turned toward Arden and his Aesir.  "Is there anything you'd
like to do before the trial starts?" 
     "Food sounds good to me--and to Aesir too, of course."  He grinned
and moved to stand beside his dragon as they walked back towards the
barracks.  Elswyth joined him on his right, her silvery-white Aedra on her
other side.  "Then food it is," she answered, pronouncing her words
carefully.  "And then we can attend the trial." 
     Arden gave the two ladies a befuddled look.  "You keep talking about
a trial," he began.  "But I don't know anything about it.  Who's on trial? 
And what did they do?" 
     Shae's dark frown made him wonder if he really wanted to know the
answers to his questions.... 


Respectfully submitted,

Arden ('Blink') and Aesir
Keldarra Warren
     
Kurt Nelson
jknelson@telerama.lm.com


NRPG: OK, so Aesir's a bit precocious, but I decided things would be more
fun if I had a flying dragon like everyone else. :)  Needless to say,
"real life" has swamped me like never before.  I'll do my best to
participate, but I don't know how often I'll be able to contribute. <sigh>
I think the worst of the Science Center "paperwork" is over, but I still
have two programs that are going to be needing a lot of my attention over
the next month or two until some routines get established.  Keep your
fingers crossed. :)




NELSON'S LAW: Even if _nothing_ can go wrong---something will go wrong.