* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

<You're sure this time?  I wanted to take the last one...>

%escorted was%

<This one isn't.  A warren dragon and rider, alone.  As we planned.  Is the 
dragon suitable?>

%female young%     %recent join%    %ready soon%

<Yes, very soon, my friend...  prepare yourself to intercept them.>

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

<Stop asking me how much farther it is to our destination,> Jacinth thought, 
exasperated.  <We'll get there when we get there.>

<Why don't we just teleport directly there?> K'drik thought grumpily.

<Because Shatavari didn't give me coordinates,> Jacinth replied, <and 
because her rider was dead-set against us letting anyone else know where we 
were being sent.  I couldn't very well ask around for directions, now could 
I?>

<Since when do you call her Shatavari instead of Mama?>

<Hmf.  I'm not a hatchling anymore, K'drik-Mine.  Everyone has to grow up 
sometime.>

K'drik grunted in response.  He felt too miserable to argue with her.

Jacinth continued.  <...Besides, the range is still too far for me, right 
now.  Even if I knew the end coordinates, I couldn't just pop right over 
there.  I'd have to do it in several short hops.  I haven't been doing this 
very long, you know, and...>

<I know, I know!> he thought, irritated.  <I weigh ever-so-much and your 
wings hurt.  Poor little Jacinth actually has to work for a change.>

Jacinth sniffed.  <I know you're still very upset about what your sire and 
dam said to you, so I'm going to overlook that remark.>

Upset didn't quite capture it.  He'd slipped from outraged to devastated to 
numb.  It had been hours since their visit to the Dyer home, and hours 
before that since he'd last eaten.  He felt sick at heart.  Sick in body, 
too, for that matter...

<Not on my...!> Jacinth began desperately, but it was too late.  <My nice 
shiny flank.  You'll have to clean that up when we land, you know,> she said 
peevishly.  <In fact, perhaps a whole bath is in order...  say, what's 
wrong?> she asked, suddenly concerned.  <You *never* got airsick during 
rider training before...  are you okay?>

K'drik wiped the foulness from his mouth onto his sleeve, but couldn't quite 
remove the sickeningly-sweet aftertaste he'd had in his mouth ever since the 
visit to Kyven's office. Whatever had been in that flask, the mere smell of 
it made him horribly nauseated.  He'd gotten better on his way from Keldarra 
to his family's home, but the emotional upset there had plunged him back 
into feeling terrible again.  His stomach churned.

<You haven't answered me,> Jacinth prompted him.

<I'm... getting by,> he said reluctantly.  <Maybe we ought to->

Whatever K'drik had been about to suggest was lost in a sudden moment of 
panic.  A large dark blue dragon had shimmered into existence ahead of and 
slightly above their course of flight. Jacinth screeched in alarm and tried 
to bank-turn, but the male had 'ported in too close for her to avoid 
colliding with him.

Her wingtips buffeted his talons, and to Jacinth's horror, the male seized 
them tightly, clutching them even as she tried to beat them to remain aloft. 
  He even flew upward slightly, pulling her with him. It was like being 
dragged aloft by razors.

Jacinth screamed in agony as the males' claws turned the tips of her wings 
to tatters.  Panicking, she furled her damaged wings tightly against her 
body, buffeting her rider with them in the process. They dropped like a 
rock.

Through the agony of shared pain, K'drik fought to make her hear him.  
<Jacinth.  Jacinth, please, I know it hurts but you've got to keep flying 
until it's safe to land...>

The orange dragon unfurled her injured wings again and tried to brake.  
Their descent slowed, but she could not stop them falling; her damaged wings 
were no longer sufficient to hold their combined weight aloft.

<Can we teleport someplace safer to crash?>  K'drik thought desperately.  
<Over a lake or something, to break our fall?>

<Trying,> Jacinth wailed plaintively.  <Not working!  I can't!>

<The pain is too much?>

<No!> she cried out desperately.  <Something else is stopping me!  I hear 
buzzing...>

They were falling lower and lower, though at least Jacinth had turned it 
into an unsteady glide rather than a tumble.  They were still too heavy.  
They were going to crash.

K'drik unbuckled himself from his harness.  <Maybe without me, you can pull 
out of this and save yourself. Remember me!> he thought to her sadly as he 
jumped.

<Remember...?   NO!>  Jacinth screamed as K'drik leaped off her back.  <You 
ridiculous fool!  You'll be killed, and I won't want to go on living...>

Twisting her head around, she strained to see what had become of her rider.  
She saw his body falling, limbs flailing, the ground approaching...  she 
would never be able to double back and reach him in time...

%idiot%  An unfamiliar voice intoned through the buzzing sensation in 
Jacinth's skull.  %dead pair no use to us%

The buzzing stopped momentarily, and Jacinth saw the blue dragon reappear 
low, almost at ground level.  The blue had a large man mounted on his back, 
who caught K'drik with a loud grunt.  The dragon dipped as they caught him 
to soften the impact, almost hitting the ground himself, but he soon righted 
himself and flew skyward again.

<K'drik-Mine!>  she thought, but there was no response...  Dazed from the 
fall, she hoped.   <K'drik...>  The buzzing sensation suddenly filled her 
skull again, a swarm of angry bees that sought to drive thoughts from her 
head.  Teleport?  She could barely remember her name, let alone 
coordinates...

%here%  the chillingly flat voice said in her mind.  %you will teleport to a 
place of my choosing%     %hesitate or appear elsewhere and my rider cuts 
throat of yours%

The buzzing sensation stopped abruptly, and an image of a vast cavern 
appeared in her head...  no sunlight, no connection to the sky above, no 
light at all save flickering torches and luminous goo on the walls..

%only there%

The strange pair vanished from her sight, taking K'drik with them.  Jacinth 
paused only long enough to roar her anguish before following them into the 
darkness below...


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


NRPG:  More to follow.  The new pair are called Ar'lan (rider) and 
Alaphardalus, or Phard (dragon).  You'll learn more about them as their 
sinister plan unfolds.  This *will* eventually turn interactive again... but 
only when time is ripe for a rescue!

Respectfully submitted,

Dave Lankford, aka:
K'drik & Jacinth, Keldarra
Ada & Xye, Telnor
Arkt'han & Auram, Xylian/Marrid
Roderick the fugitive, Xylian/Marrid
& Ens. Karmryn Glavo, USS DAMOCLES


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