Z'lec
***

<<Night Trey and Z'lec find Jahanna>>

>"Will I be joining you back at the warren?" she asked.  "I'm afraid it's a
bit of a walk..."

>"We can give you a ride," Z'lec offered.  "Come and meet the dragons."

He moved to open the door for the dark-haired young woman. Then let Trey
through as well. Raynod being white stood out, his color subtly illuminated
by the moonlight. Koroth was a dark form partially blocking the other dragon.

"This is Raynod and Koroth," Z'lec said. "They are both very gentle." He
turned to look at the girl, expecting to see some hesitancy in her step.
But she was smiling.

"They are both very handsome. What incredible beasts."

Tr'etram grinned at the wingleader and Z'lec nodded. A landbound searchling
not intimidated in the slightest by the dragons was an exceptional find.

"Let me help you up," Trey offered leading her to the proffered forearm of
his navy blue dragon. Z'lec let the new searcher handle his first
searchling. He was glad to see that Trey had taken easily to spotting the
possible candidates. 

He climbed up on Raynod and soon they all launched into the air. <Are you
ready Ray?>

<Yes, rider .. I'm ready. Koroth's rider is giving the girl a few words of
advice before teleporting.>

Z'lec nodded and waited patiently. Going from one place to another in an
instant, high over the safety of ground could be a bit daunting. Though he
had no doubt the girl would handle it well.

<Koroth is ready.>

<Go!> Z'lec said picturing the signal fires that would be burning in the
highest peaks of Marrid for those dragon coming in at night.

And in an instant he could see them, warm and welcoming. It had been a good
night and he looked forward to sharing it with his mate. Any night were he
actually found a searchling was a good night. There were many nights that
were a complete waste of time .. and that was why it was so easy to burn
out doing such job. He was glad to be able to turn it over to Tr'etram.

He chuckled to himself as they circled down to the green outside the
searchling barracks. A year ago he'd have never thought he'd be handing his
position of head searcher over to the man. Actually he'd have rather seen
him thrown out and banished. But he'd been proved wrong about Trey. 

He had turned out to be an asset to the warren and he and Diana were happy ..

<Zena says there's some discord between the two.>

<Gossiping again, Ray?> Z'lec chuckled.

<Just keeping my ears open.>

Z'lec climbed off the large white dragon when they were settled safely on
the ground and went to help Trey, who was helping the young woman down.

"This is the searchling barracks," he was telling her. "You are welcome to
stay here until you join."

"Judging by the darkness, I'd say Fiona's probably asleep," Z'lec said
studying the entrance.

Trey nodded. "We'll get you situated in a room here and you can meet her in
the morning. She'll help you out with anything you need in the morning. And
she'll make sure you get an audience with the Warrenlady as well."

"Thank you for your help," the young woman said.

They quickly got Jahanna settled into an empty room and left a note on the
door to Fiona's room about their newest searchling. Then the two men left.

"You did well tonight," Z'lec said as they approached their dragons who
were still waiting outside for them. "I'm more then happy to go with you
again some night, but I think you'll do fine."

***
<<the next morning>>

>"Z'lec, before you go, would you like me to handle the banished rider?"
Trak asked him.

"I don't know. I don't want to lay to much in your lap your first day .."

Trak smiled, "It's no trouble. You look like you've got enough on your mind."

Z'lec groaned, "Waylene would probably appreciate it. She thinks I'm
over-reacting as it is." With Trak handling Kendal and Trey handling
Ailill, there would be little left for him to do. Well, he'd still like to
talk to them .. but perhaps he could keep his anger in check if he wasn't
doing the original confrontations.

"Consider it done then. I'll talk to Kendal this afternoon."

"Great. Thanks, Trak." He grinned, "I'm really glad you're back."

"Me too," Trak said.

"By the way," Z'lec called over his shoulder, "Dinners at 8. See you there."

Waylene
***

Waylene was just about to head toe the dining hall for lunch when Fiona
appeared at her door with dark-haired young woman. "Good afternoon, m'lady."

"This is Jahanna val Raize. A new searchling Z'lec and Tr'etram brought in
last night."

Waylene smiled at the newcomer, "Welcome Jahanna. I was just about to head
over to the dining hall for lunch. Would you care to join me? We can talk
about you're new home over one of Cook's wonderful sandwiches."

***
NRPG: Sian, feel free to write Fiona if you want, she's just an NPC filler
character. And feel free to tell Waylene whatever you want her to know. She
will ask about your home, and she'll be worried about Jahanna's parents
worrying about her and all the sort of thing :}

BTW, I'll be out all next week. Scott sold my computer :( But we'll have a
new one soon. When he ordered it last night they said it should arrive by
the 25th! So I'll be gone from Friday the 18th, when he hands this computer
to it's new owner, until the 25th when our new one arrives.

Kristen

------------------------------------
Kristen & Scott Gant
http://homepage.interaccess.com/~sgant/gant.htm