<<NRPG: Okay time jumps in here .. so be aware! BTW, I'm assuming Lakoda
stays in the warren and accepts Waylene's dictates. Barb you and I can work
out how things actually work. There are lots of possibilities.  <G> >>

Waylene
***
<<About a week later>>

"Well, Shella's been shimmering with a metallic sheen for several days
now." Waylene told the girl in front of her, "I guess we can assume she's a
queen."  Since her mating flight nearly a week ago, Shella had shimmered on
and off .. finally settling on a beautiful metallic emerald color which
continued to bright each day as her pregnancy progressed.

"I know that's supposed to be important, but I'm not sure why?" Tina asked.

"In the warren, the queens are the only ones who are fertile. They are the
survival of the Warrens. Tradition dictates that the queen's rider is
therefore also important .. and so those of us chosen by queens, are the
leaders of the warren. As Aura is the oldest queen, I am the most
experienced and therefore Warrenlady. And it becomes my job to train you to
take over should anything happen to me."

"What about Carie, she's a queen rider too, right?"

Waylene nodded, "Yes, and she would be actually next in line after me. But
you will still need to be prepared. Any thing can happen."

"Well, what if Shella really isn't a queen and she's only got this sheen
because she's pregnant?"

Waylene shook her head, "Only queens have a metallic sheen. They
occasionally lose it when they get old and are no longer fertile or no
longer rise to mate. And they can fade somewhat if they're sick. But she
has to be a queen. Her sheen gets brighter everyday."

Suddenly there was a loud roar and Aura informed her that Shella was laying
her eggs. Tina's face lit up, "It's time!"

Waylene nodded, "Come, let's go join your dragon." She smiled to urge the
girl on. While it was clear the dragon had the metallic sheen of a queen
dragon and had maintained it for several days now, Lakoda was still
concerned about the dragon's health. Blood tests still showed that Shella
was not yet normalized, though each day brought her closer. She also did
not seem to be carrying very many eggs by the size of her.

Koda had warned the warrenlady not to be to hopeful about this clutch. The
head healer wasn't sure what to expect from this most unusual of queens.

Tina and Waylene reach the hatching cavern before most others who came to
see if this new odd queen really did lay eggs. Aura was snorting at any who
got to close to her own hardening eggs. She wasn't much happier about
having to share her hatching cavern with the strange dragon then Fiera had
been about the wild eggs they'd brought in during her last clutch.

Shella was panting unhappily and grunting as she worked at pushing the eggs
from her body. Waylene frowned slightly at the sight of the first one. It
was small. About half the size of even the smallest of Aura's and it was
dark, and misshapen. Not at all like any dragon egg she'd ever seen.

Shella keened at the pain, and Waylene's frown deepened. Laying eggs wasn't
the easiest thing for a dragon to do, but she'd never seen Aura as bad off
as Shella seemed to be. Suddenly she feared for the dragon's health, as the
sheen which had been brightening seemed suddenly faded.

Even Tina was paling. "Something not right .." she breathed.

Waylene put a hand on her arm. "Koda will be here soon .. have faith."

The warrenlady was right, for soon Lakoda came running into the cave, a
large bag in hand. "Ribbon said something's not right."

Waylene nodded, and motioned the healer to where Shella crouched keening
miserably as a second was finally pushed out. It looked no better then the
first.

"Oh dear .." Koda breathed, looking at the two dark eggs, laying like
nothing more than another rock upon the sands.

"She'll be okay .. won't she?" Tina asked, her voice almost panicked.

Waylene nodded, "She'll be fine. Koda's here .."

***

In the end, Shella had lain a total of five small dark eggs. None of which
contained living hatchlings. Lakoda had given the laying dragon a strong
sedative and pain killer to ease her misery. And now she was resting
comfortably while the healer made sure the dragon was egg free.

Aura huddled her eggs closer to her and watched them like a hawk, almost as
if she feared that Shella's disastrous clutch would rub off on her own.
Waylene did what she could to waylay her dragon's fears but the whole
tragedy weighed heavy on her as well.

She sat with Tina as she waited for the final word from Koda on the status
of Shella.

Finally the healer came over and smiled at Tina. "She'll be fine. She just
needs some rest."

Tina nodded and moved to where her dragon lay. Waylene looked up at Koda,
"How is she really?"

Koda shrugged, "She'll be okay, really. I just hope her system normalizes
soon."

"You think that's what went wrong?"

Koda nodded, "It has to be. There's no other explanation."

"And the eggs?"

"They just never developed completely. They just died inside of her."

Waylene looked back at the faded green dragon, "Her sheen's gone too."

Koda nodded, "I suspect it'll be back."

"What if it doesn't? What if this happens every time she flies to mate and
we have to deal with this .."

Waylene looked tired and Koda sat down beside her, "We'll deal with it if
it does. Hey have you had lunch yet?" Waylene shook her head. "Well then
come on, let's go get something to eat."

Waylene nodded, "All right, that sounds like a good idea."

D'zall
***
<<Jumping farther into the future, perhaps another couple of weeks or so ..>>

The lad and his dragon stopped at a small watering hole to drink before
flying the rest of the way to the warren. This water hole was a favorite of
the pair and one they tended to stop at on most trips around the lands. He
was delivery invitations to Aura's hatching which could happen anytime in
the next week or so. The warren needed this hatching after the tragic
laying of the semi-queen Shella, only a couple of weeks earlier.

It made little sense, they'd all seen the dragon become metallic, but once
again, she was as normal as any dragon. She'd lost her sheen when her eggs
had been lain, and so far it had not returned, though she seemed once again
in perfect health.

D'zall wasn't sure what to think. He'd begun to doubt she was a queen after
all. He wasn't the only one who doubted.

Rainy landed with a thud, and dunked his head deep into the water.

<Whoa!> D'zall yelled, fighting to retain his balance in the saddle.

<Sorry, was thirsty.> the dragon lapped up the water. <Don't like going to
Fogart! Too Dusty!>

D'zall rubbed at the dust on his leather riding clothes and found himself
agreeing with Rainy.  However, when Waylene needed a message sent to the
miners, then he had to go to Fogart Mining Camp. It was his job.

<Does it feel hot to you, Rainy?> D'zall asked. Being the middle of winter,
even in the south, there was usually still a bit of a nip to the air, but
suddenly he felt very warm.

<Hot? .. umm > the dragon was still busy lapping up water, <I guess it's a ..>

Suddenly D'zall felt his soul rip in half as the dragon voice went silent.
He'd never felt such agony .. such loneliness. It was almost as if Rainy
wasn't there. Yet he was sitting right on his back.

Rainy's head jerked up and he turned his neck to look at his rider as if he
was suddenly worried he was gone.

<Rainy!> D'zall asked plaintively looking at the dragon's dark eyes.

The dragon roared loudly.

<Rainy! What's wrong!>

Rainy collapsed to the ground. D'zall quickly undid his saddle and slipped
off the dragon's hide which seemed to be growing cold despite the heat he'd
been complaining of just moments ago. <Rainy! Answer me!>

 He ran to the massive head. Rainy's eyes whirled helplessly and he keened
softly before his massive body seemed to weigh far to heavily on the dragon
dropped completely to the grounds and stopped moving.

D'zall looked in horror at his dragon, "Rainy! Rainy!!"  He shook the
massive head. It felt like a rock. "No .. NO!"

This couldn't be! It just couldn't be! D'zall collapsed in despair, unable
to move .. not sure what to do .. <Rainy .. >

How could he live without Rainy ..

Somehow in the clouded loneliness of his mind, he knew he didn't want to.
He clasped at his pack, still attached to the dragon's back, and pulled out
his dagger ..

T'rend & D'nar
***

The two men were flying lazily over their patrol area. A light dusting of
snow had begun to fall, which while rare, wasn't completely unusual for
this time of year. Porthios began to keen softly. Grall soon joined him.
<It's a dragon, D'nar.> Porthios told his rider.

<Where?>

Porthios began to circle down and the form a dragon began to become clear
to the riders. D'nar and T'rend were so horrified neither of them noticed
that the snow that fell in an irregular pattern around the fallen dragon,
did not stick to the warmed ground as it did elsewhere. The dragon laying
in an unnatural position, eyes open wide in death, looked to have been
stopping for a drink at the water hole just prior to his death. A short
distance away, lay the dead dragon's rider, a dagger sticking out of his
chest at an angle that made it clear the stabbing had been self-inflicted.

Porthios landed and howled mournfully. His rider slid from his back and
walked to the dead man. "Oh no .." He looked up, "T'rend .."

His friend soon joined him and both men looked unhappily down at a former
friend .. A young man who didn't deserve to die.

"What do you think happened?" T'rend asked.

D'nar shook his head. "I'm not sure .. no signs of an attack .. no marks on
his hide .." D'nar knelt down beside D'zall, "He hasn't been dead long."

<D'nar, let's get out of here ..> Porthios prodded. <Something doesn't feel
right.>

<What?> D'nar asked. <Wraiths?>

<No .. I don't know what it is.. I just don't like it here ..>

"Let's get back to the warren." D'nar suggested, "Koda may want to come out
and have a look before we burn the body."

T'rend nodded, "Yeah, Grall's a bit skittish, though he can't explain why."

"Same with Porthios."

Waylene
***

"Oh gods .." Waylene groaned, "Poor D'zall .."

"We left everything the way we found it, figured Koda might want to have a
look." D'nar said gently. "In case it was another dragon plague or
something .."

Waylene nodded, "Did you let her know?"

D'nar nodded, "Yes, she's going back out with T'rend. Traknor also assigned
Talitha to go with them and Kendal and Ranon to go and investigate the
surrounding area."

Waylene nodded as she slipped into her chair. "Does Ziila know yet?" D'zall
was all Ziila had since their parents were killed two years ago in the
Battle of Marrid .. and now he was gone too. With very little clue as to
why ..

D'nar shook his head. "Do you want me to be the one to tell her?"

Waylene shook her head, "No .. I'll do it."

Regards,
Waylene & Aura
***
NRPG: Okay guys here's a new mystery to solve. And no .. it's not another
dragon plague, I promise :) I know there's a lot I skipped over, so
anything you see that you feel needs to be filled in, please do so.

Jill, will Talitha notice anything familiar about the way D'zall's dragon,
Rainy died? <G> I know I didn't make this real clear, tho I tried <G> What
happened was that much as the Lost DL has semi-stable pockets of magic
where the warrens are, here in Marrid, in a very small spot, for a brief
moment or so a pocket of non-magic formed and D'zall and Rainy were caught.

Dragons need the magic to survive. So a dragon caught in non-magic would
die very quickly. The bond would be severed, they wouldn't be able to fly
or teleport.  I think this one opened and closed within a short period of
time .. because obviously the magic was back when D'nar and Trend found
him, tho it is unlikely to be stable, since both dragons sense something '
odd.'

Justin, I wasn't sure when you wanted your travelers to show up, so I
didn't include them. But please any time after this they can arrive :)

Morgie, I didn't do much with Tressa, cause I'm running out of steam on
this, but I'll do something later. In the meantime Waylene's gonna need a
new courier .. and I think she would probably be inclined to ask Yasi, if
you're interested.

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