<T'grat - sometime after midnight>

He crouched beside the remains of Greta's funeral pyre tears running down
his face as he wished farewell to the woman that had been the centre of
his life.  

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to say goodbye my love."  he whispered as he
carefully gathered a double handful of the grey ashes, and placed them
reverently into the ceramic urn he'd brought with him for just this
purpose.  "I couldn't stand the thought of watching you burn...."

He stopped for a moment, the weight of his grief bowing his shoulders as
he fought for some control of the bitter despair that battered at him.

"I *will* avenge your death my love."  his voice was full of cold fury and
determination "Megandra will pay for what she did."

<Next day>

T'grat dropped the children off with Rybeth as soon as breakfast was over.

"Take good care of your sister, Lars."  T'grat told the small boy as he
unwound the tiny girl's arms from his neck and placed her gently on the
ground.  "I'll be back just as soon as we've finished filling the tunnel
in."

"You promised..."  Lars began then bit his lip and looked up at T'grat
with accusing eyes.

"I haven't forgotten what I promised."  T'grat said as he knelt in front
of the boy and looked him in the eye.  "Malachite's guarding the pack that
contains your mother's funeral urn and we'll go up to the Soulsease as
soon as I've made sure that no more intruders can creep into our home."

Lars nodded and then took Alyne's hand and disappeared through the door of
the schoolroom.

<..>

After he spoke to Naomi about closing the tunnel, T'grat headed straight
for the storeroom where the miners kept their tools and equipment.

"Ah.... just what's needed!"  T'grat picked up sledgehammers and pickaxes
from the shelf of the storeroom and marched back to the green.

<..>

*Who's that?*  He asked Malachite spotting a strange face as he emerged
once more on the green.  *I don't remember him....*

*A transfer from Falagand.*  Mal said lazily.  *He and Makron arrived
yesterday.  They heard about the problems we'd had and decided to
volunteer to help.*

*News sure travels fast.*  T'grat said in surprise.  *Well now that he's
here he might just as well give me a hand.....*

"Are you busy?" he asked as he drew level with the stranger.

"Not at present.  Why do you ask?"  

"There's a problem that needs fixing."  T'grat told him without preamble 
"Here...."

He tossed a sledgehammer to the youngster and then started towards the
tunnels that would lead to the back entrance into the warren without a
backwards glance.  Darrkon and M'lent joined them as they entered the
supply caves... 

<..>

There was a small group of miners waiting for them at the actual cave
mouth and T'grat conferred with them for a few minutes before calling to
his fellow riders;

"OK... let's get this over and done with."

There was a buzz of conversation for a second or so and then the steady
thumping of wood and steel on stone as they attacked the roof and walls of
the tunnel. 

<..>

*Tell Amethyst and Naomi it's done.*  T'grat told Malachite in a satisfied
tone.  *No one will be able to creep in this way and take us unawares
again.*

T'grat gazed at the pile of boulders and rocks that blocked the cave mouth
with a satisfied smile.  It would take too much work to even attempt to
shift that lot in a hurry... even if Orobos was willing to lend a claw in
digging through.

*I don't think there's any danger of that.*  Mal told him  *From what
Ebony and Mazel have said Orobos was crippled in wing and eye when he
teleported in panic.  He may not have survived....*

>"T'grat isn't it?"

The question jerked him from his preoccupied thoughts. 

"Yes it is." He peered at the speaker in the dim light, trying to make out
who it was that had spoken. "I haven't seen you around here before have
I?"

"No.  I just flew in yesterday from Falagand.  The name's S'ron."

Makron's rider then.  T'grat held out his hand in greeting, and indicated
the pile of rocks.  

"Thanks for your help with that....."  he said as they started back
towards the warren.  *And about that...."

"No need to explain."  S'ron interrupted.  "Makron told me why it was
needed, and I only too pleased to help out in my new home."

"Well, we're grateful anyway."  T'grat said with a distant smile.  "Let me
know if I can help you in any way. Have you settled into an apartment? 
Have you been shown where everything is?  Dining hall? Med centre?"

S'ron nodded.  "Domaia took me round most of the important places
yesterday.  Makron and I still have too find ourselves a permanent
cliffside apartment... but the ground level one will do for a day or so
until we get to know which are free for us to use.  Perhaps you can
enlighten me as to some of the finer points of life at Norwall?"

"I'd be glad to."  T'grat told him.  "But it'll have to be some time this
evening.  I have something that I need to do this afternoon.  How about if
we meet for dinner in the dining hall this evening.  The children are
usually in bed by 8.30 so any time after that...."

S'ron nodded, but before he could say any more....

There was a rumbling behind them... and a blast of fetid air swirled by
leaving them choking and gasping for breath.  A faint call echoed along
the corridor, and as one they turned and ran back the way they'd just
come.

<..>

"It just collapsed without warning."  Yanni, one of the miners, told
T'grat as he inspected the gaping hole in the roof of the corridor, a few
feet back from the now sealed cave entrance.  "Luckily no one was hurt in
the rockfall."

"Here... pass me that lamp.  I'm going to see what's up there."  T'grat
said as he peered up into the blackness.  

"I'll come with you."  S'ron said.  

Without waiting for a yes or no from T'grat he scrambled up the loose pile
of earth and rocks that had cascaded down from the ceiling, then offered
T'grat a hand to pull him up.

<..>

"It's big."  T'grat said as he held the lamp he carried high in the air
and tried to see the walls of the space they stood in.  "Don't move too
far from the light...  "

Cautiously the two men moved further from the hole they'd entered by,
feeling carefully with their feet before taking each step.

"Maybe it's air bubble that was left after an eruption when the crater was
active."  S'ron said, seemingly thinking aloud.  "It's been sealed a long
time if the staleness of the air is anything to go on.  Ugh....."

T'grat heard S'ron's surprised exclamation and swung round to bring the
lamp to bear on whatever had caused it.  

"I caught something soft with my foot."  S'ron told him as they light
swept across the floor.  "There....."

T'grat held the lamp steady as they tried to make out what they were
seeing.  A soft, grey heap lay on the otherwise bare stone.

"What was it?"  T'grat wondered quietly,  moving forwards for a closer
look.  "I wonder...."

"Watch out!"  S'ron cried suddenly, jerking T'grat away from the thing. 
"It's alive... it moved."

Startled, T'grat looked more closely, and sure enough the fringes of the
'heap' stirred sluggishly as if in a gentle breeze... and yet the air was
still.  He leant down once more and jeked back as the grey, blanket-like
heap crept  an inch or so towards him over the rough floor of the cavern. 
A living grey blanket-like.....

*That's a wraith!*  Mal suddenly said in his mind.  *Stay away from it
until I can get there.*

He sensed Mal warbling a warning to the whole warren, and then he sensed
Mal's frustration as he realised that there was no way he could reach
T'grat's position. He heard S'ron gasp beside him, and then back away,
back towards the hole in the floor.

"Get someone to bring a flame thrower up here."  he called down to those
waiting in the corridor below. 

"How did it get in here?"  S'ron asked, keeping a way eye on the thing. 
"And how has it survived after however long it's been. Anything organic
would have been consumed long ago." 

"I don't know." T'grat shook his head.  "Just thank whatever gods you
believe in that it's in such a weak condition it can barely move... I
don't relish ending up as dinner for a wraith.  There's one person who
might have some answers for us."

*Mal... get Mazel to tell Zera she's needed.  Urgently!*


*****
<Amethyst>

She lay curled around the single egg that was left, all her attention and
love fixed on the tiny embryo that would some day emerge as a hatchling
queen.  Crooning softly, she swept a light covering of sand across the
gleaming shell, then she tucked her nose under her tail and settled down
to sleep for a while.

<..>

*WRAITHS!*

Mal's bugle of alarm/warning woke her.  

Heart pounding with anger/fright she rose from her resting place and
charged across the sands. Roaring a challenge, her flame already lancing
skywards, she emerged onto the green and skidded to a puzzled stop when
the expected danger failed to materialise.

*Where are they?*  she called in frustration as she searched the sky above
the warren for her deadly enemy.  *Malachite?*

*There is only one.*  Mal told her sheepishly.  *T'grat has found a wraith
in a cave under the mountain... where they closed the tunnel this morning.
 He says it is weak...*

Bugling in frustration, Amethyst turned to go back to her precious egg.  

<..>

She caught a movement in the dim depths of the hatching cavern, a flash of
turquoise in a stray sunbeam.  A shadowy figure loomed over the place
where the queen egg lay ... Someone was trying to steal/harm her last egg.
 

Screaming in rage she rushed forward, muzzle opening wide, ready to blast
the intruder to cinders.

*Don't!*   Mazel backed away quickly.  

*Why are you here?*  Amethyst demanded fiercely, small spurts of flame
still leaping from her half-closed muzzle.  She checked the egg quickly,
then relaxed as she realised that it was safe. *I could have hurt you
without meaning to.*  she half apologised to Mazel as she settled down on
the hot sand once more, carefully placing her body between the egg and the
other dragon.  

She rested her great head on her front talons and eyed the other
quizzically, wondering what it was the youngster wanted.

<Tag Jill>

*******
<Naomi>

She walked slowly back from the dining hall. It had been a waste of time
... she'd known she wouldn't be able to eat anything, especially after the
meal that Meena had made her eat at midday.  But her mother had insisted
and she'd obliged if only to keep her mother from fussing over her like a
dragon with a single egg.

*Like me you mean?*  Amethyst inquired gently.  *And the way you'll fuss
and fret when your hatchling finally arrives. Your dam is right... you
should eat.  You'll need your strength in the days ahead just as I will.*

*I suppose so.*  Naomi answered with a sigh.  *Sorry love, I wasn't trying
to be insulting. I know you and mother both mean well...*

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to keep the ever present
tears from spilling onto her cheeks.  There were so many times when all
she wanted to do was curl into a ball and let the aching sorrow take her
where it would.  But she had to present a strong face to the world.  She
had to deal with the repairs to the warren and they had to help with the
rebuilding of the small town that had been devastated.....

Her foot turned beneath her as she stepped into a hole that wouldn't
normally have marred the smooth turf of the green.  With a cry she pitched
forwards, and was caught and held by a soft pair of arms that held her
steady and then set her back on her feet.  

"Thank you."  She looked up, expecting to see a familiar face and was
shocked to see someone she didn't know standing in front of her.

"Perhaps if you were to look where you were going instead of walking
around with your eyes closed...."  the girl in front of her told her. 
"It's not very sensible you know."

"I'll be sure to remember that next time."  Naomi said solemnly.  "I
haven't seen you around the warren before have I?"  Naomi asked as she
pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear and looked up at the girl
once more.  

The girl shook her head.  

"I only arrived here yesterday.  M'lent brought me and few others from the
ruins of Fairlight."

"Ah...Fairlight!"  Naomi's eyes were sad as she laid a comforting hand on
the girl's arm.  "I'm so sorry that you've lost your home.  I hope we can
do something to help you and your fellow townspeople until rebuilding is
completed.  You're more than welcome to stay as long as you want."

"Thank you, M'lent already told me that."  she answered.  "I'm Kaelanori
by the way."

Naomi offered her hand and quiet smile as she introduced herself.

"Naomi."  she said simply

<Tag Kate>

*******
<T'grat - late afternoon>

Malachite landed gently on the small beach that fringed the deep blue
waters of Lake Soulsease.  T'grat slipped down and then reached up to help
Lars and Alyne to the ground.  Once they were safely back on their feet he
carefully unfastened the carisak that held Greta's ashes from the saddle.

"I like it here."  Alyne said in a small voice, as she slipped her tiny
hand into his large one and held on tightly.  "Do you think mummy will be
happy sleeping here for always?"

"I'm sure she will."  T'grat said with a lump in his throat as he scooped
her up to give her a hug.  "That's why we chose this place... remember? 
Because mummy loved it here."

"Come on son."  He looked at Lars, and then held out his hand.  After a
moment's hesitation Lars came forward and took it.  

Together the three made their way down to the water's edge.

<..>

"Look after my mummy, fishes."  Alyne said as she opened her fingers and
let the handful of ashes blow free in the gentle breeze.  

"Goodbye mother."  Lars said quietly as he released the ashes he held.

"I love you Greta."  T'grat whispered as he scattered the last of her
remains onto the water and watched them sink out of sight.  "I'll always
love you."

*****
<Naomi>


>The carriage came to stop and Lord Harkon got out, "Where the devil is
>that warrenlady of yours! I demand to see her now! And my daughter too.
>Tell her to bring Lars and Demee!"
>
>The gatesman looked at the rotund Lord dumbly for a moment.
>
>"NOW!!" Harkon roared.
>
>"But .. sir .. The warren is .."
>
>"I don't care for your excuses! I have a blood debt to collect and I intend
>to collect it now!"

<..>

"I'm sorry that we can't offer you the hospitality we 

"And why would the Warren have any part in a blood debt to the Lord of
Whitbarrow?"  Naomi asked cooly.  "I seem to remember that we answered the
question of what was owed you by this Warren a long time ago.  We've kept
to our part of the Treaty...."

"Treaty bedamned.....this has nothing to do with the Treaty."  Harkon told
her "One of your riders murdered my wife and my heir and I'm here to see
him brought to justice.  Proper, decent Landbound justice... not that
flim-flam you Warren born practice.  Now bring the murderer out and let's
get on with this.  And bring me my grandsons too.  Lars was my heir
once... he can be again."

"You go too far, Harkon."  Naomi drew herself up and looked him straight
in the eye.  "None of us at Norwall would offer any violence to you or
your wife and son.  If they've been murdered then you have my deepest
sympathy since I too have recently lost a loved one to a murderer.  But
you need to look elsewhere for your vegeance... I repeat... none at
Norwall would offer you or yours any harm."

"Liar!" he spat out.  "I heard him with my own ears and so did half of
Whitbarrow.  Called my poor departed lady a murderess and threatened to
bring her to justice... and caused a lot of damage to my garden in the
process. Said she murdered that trollop my son married.... I've witnesses
if you won't take *my* word for it.  Respectable and respected men who's
word even you have to trust. Now will you bring out that murdering
scroundel T'grat."

Naomi was lost for words for a few seconds.  T'grat?  A murderer?  She
didn't... wouldn't.... believe it no matter how much evidence Harkon
produced.  

*Amethyst... where are T'grat and Malachite?*  she asked quickly. 
*Wherever he is he needs to be here... NOW!  But not before he's hidden
Lars somewhere safe. And tell Vonn to tell Meena that her father's here..
and he's demanding that she bring Demee to him.  And warn the others that
there may be trouble...."

"Well girl?  Where are you hiding the murdering bastard?"  Harkon
interupted her in a harsh voice.  "I've enough evidence to demand he be
handed over into my custody for trial and punishment."

*Malachite and his rider will be here shortly.*  Amethyst told her.  *He
says he knows a place for the hatchlings where they'll be safe.  I've told
Vonn and Tergath what's happening, and I've warned all the dragons to be
ready if it's needed.  Makron and Lyric's riders are coming....*

Naomi caught a quick glimpse of S'ron and Domaia as they moved carefully
round the cavern wall, trying to keep out of sight long enough to get into
a position to help her if needed.

"Well?"  Harkon demanded again.

"T'grat will be here shortly."  Naomi told him coldly.  "Then he can
answer your unfounded accusations for himself."

submitted by

Naomi & Amethyst


-- 
Mint,  the voice and soul of

Timi Caplain  Unassigned            Caliban, Lute's human  Dragon Lands  
Lillith the Mage    Broken Lands    Minty, Kirimith's rider    Dragon Lands                  
Naomi, QueenRider to Amethyst, Norwall's WarrenLady,  Dragon Lands

ICQ #5814808
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/5902
http://www.dragonfire.net/~Mint/

PGP Public key: http://www.dragonfire.net/~Mint/Mint.asc