[Day 15 Late night by the cave]

It was slow going as Jasmine moved through the forest.  Doni was still
having problems and staggered every so often and Kalena was just not
there period. Oh, she was there all right, in body only, her spirit
though was someplace else and Jasmine was inwardly frantic trying to
feel something, anything from her little big sister*.

A lump formed in Jasmine's throat as she moved along her arm around the
smaller woman.  This was worse then when Momma went away and the young
woman wasn't sure what to do.

As they neared the cave Jasmine realized that with the closely knit
tangle of brambles at the mouth there was now way for Doni to get in.
She was just to big.

*Vandi!* She could feel the little green dragon sleeping.

*Vandi! Wake up!*

The sound of soft snores filled her mind.

*VANDI!* Jasmine screamed in her mind.

She heard snorting  then it settled back into deep even breathing.

Jasmine almost stopped her foot in frustration, *VANDIRA, IF YOU DON'T
WAKE UP RIGHT NOW YOU WILL EAT RABBIT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!*

Snorting and groaning then [Wha.....'yawn'.....Jazz-a-mean!]  Realizing
she wasn't dreaming the small green dragon came fully awake
[Jazz-a-mean, you're back! You had such crazy thoughts in your head and
I was so scared!  For awhile I thought you were some kind of.......it
didn't make sense!]

*We have to go back to the other camp!  Doni is too big to get in the
cave! You need to come!] Jasmine spoke ignoring her dragons words.

[Oh no no no! I don't want to go through the prickly things again. You
come help!]

*I can't! You can do it, you're little enough!*

A loud sigh filled Jasmine's mind as the young woman changed direction
and headed for the campsite.

[Youch! Ooh! Ouch! Jazz-a-meeeannn] Vandira whined [It's very
undignified for a dragon...OUCH.... to belly crawl!  I hope you know
that!  These dumb prickly's keep getting caught in my scales. Ohhh!]

Jasmine snickered, *You can do it!*

Soon all four were at the camp and Jasmine set about making a small
fire.  She stood and stared at her sister, then squatting next to the
little woman, Jasmine whispered, "Please Kalena, talk to me, you're
scaring me and I don't know what to do!]

Jasmine bit her lip as she watched her sister stare into the fire with a
vacant stare. At one point she was sure she saw Kalena sigh but it had
been such a fleeting moment the wild woman couldn't be sure.  Jasmine
was worried about Link, she felt bad at leaving him, but if she had
stayed they probably all would've been caught.

Standing she looked at the two dragons, *Vandi, tell Doni that I have to
go back and see if I can help Link.*

[Oh no no no Jazz-a-mean! Nostragus's rider is gonna be mad as it is,
that we didn't stay in the cave. You can't go, what if he comes?]

*I'll be right back!*  Looking at the lavender dragon she said, "Doni,
if you understand me take care of Kalena and Vandi, I won't be long."

The pearled dragon as if to answer moved closer and curled around her
rider.  Jasmine smiled and moved to the underbrush. Looking back she saw
Vandira curling up in the crook of Doni's tail.

[..]

Jasmine moved swiftly through the forest and was soon back on her perch
over the camp.  There had been a lot more guards this time, but using
the trees it was easy enough to get around them.  Men were moving all
over the camp and talking excitedly about the dead men they had found.

 She heard words she didn't understand like 'devil, spawn of satan' and
other things. The young woman made a mental note to make sure she asked
Ka'Laren what they meant.  He still hadn't told her what a witch was but
if it was anything like execute, Jasmine wasn't sure she wanted to know.

The woman stiffened, alarms going off in her head.  She was being
watched and the young woman backed even further into the foliage.  Then
she saw who was staring at her. It was Link. How he had seen her,
Jasmine knew she was well hidden. Yet the man was staring directly at
her place in the tree.

Her eyes scanned the camp for every detail no matter how small trying to
figure a way to get Link out.  Jasmine was more than out numbered this
time, but she just couldn't leave him.

Link was still looking straight at her and it was as if the man could
read her mind, his head began to shake slowly, warning her off, not to
do anything.

Loud yells and shouts came from below and a man was drug into the
clearing. He was bound and gagged and it was obvious he was terrified.

What happened next the young woman would never forget.......

{Tag: Anyone?}


[..] a short while later

Jasmine staggered back into her own camp.  Images filled her mind of
what she had seen and it made her sick to her stomach just to think
about it.

[ Oh Jazz-a-mean!] Vandira said sadly feeling slightly ill herself.  She
rose to meet her rider but the green dragon's legs shook slightly and
she plopped back down. Jasmine climbed over Vandi's back sliding down
next to Kalena. Hugging her knees to her chest, she sighed deeply as she
stared into the dancing flames.

{Tag: Wil - Ok guy the caves all yours}


{Day 15 Late Evening over Norwall}

Group 2 which consisted of K'tarr and the main part of the wing was
being heavily engaged by Ka'Laren's forces in the skies over Norwall.
The Dark Rider's forces had increased greatly in number since his last
meeting with the Warren riders and now also included a well-organized
group of foot soldiers which at the moment were storming through the
main entrance into Norwall.  Group 3 under Breezy's command was the
small group of dragons and riders which were to train with the
Homeguard. Unfortunately though, that training had yet to begin and the
iridescent dragon was the only one completely fitted with armor and
knowledge of her task.

The low flying for this kind of work required precision training as it
was too easy for the dragons to be hurt or wounded. Putting Mentorn in
charge of her small group she sent them to the rim to back up the watch
dragons while she helped the Homeguard.

Breezy knew with so many trainees involved in the sky it would be a task
for the more seasoned riders to keep the forces together and it seemed
that they were getting stretched thin as more and more of the enemy
appeared.

After the torching of the first wave of foot soldiers the call came from
Raven that the watch dragons were now under heavy attack also.

Mounting Coo Breezy prepared to head for the rim but noticed that a
group of the Homeguard was being separated from the main group.  *See
'em Sister, let's do it!*  This maneuver was something they had
practiced with the men only a few times and the redhead prayed that the
men didn't panic at the last minute and remembered what to do.

Coo flew low barely just above the fighting soldiers. Breezy saw Selena
look up as they passed over head and saw the dragon's objective.  An
arrow came out of nowhere to strike against the dragon's armor only to
fall away uselessly. Breezy knew as long as they didn't hit the wings
they would be ok.

The loud familiar roar split the night air warning the separated group.
The men stood their ground until the last second and as practiced leaped
backwards then dropping and rolling out of harms way as the dragons hot
flames seared a trail across the ground killing anything in it's path.
A few of the enemy escaped the flames and began running away from the
dragon bearing down on them.

*Take 'em!* Breezy shouted to Coo. The greenish dragon her wings tucked
in was gliding so low now it appeared to onlookers as if her belly would
scrape the ground. The huge talons reached out each grabbing a man and
the dragon spread her wings and lifted skyward.  The screaming of the
two men below her filled Breezy's ears.  They hadn't heard from K'tarr
in some time and there had been no answer to Coo's call for help about
the Warrenlady.  Breezy prayed the bigger redhead was safe as she and
her dragon lifted higher in the sky.

[YOWWCH! That puny little human just stabbed me in the foot!] Coo
screamed, as the dragon rocked sideways in pain.  A deep growl erupted
from her throat as she purposely lifted even higher.  Coo flipped open
her talons so quickly the men didn't have a chance to grab hold and
their screams became an echo as they fell to the ground below. [Hah!
Stab me will ya!] The green snorted as she dived towards the rim.

[Raven's rider says something weird is happening!]

Breezy sputtered like she didn't know that all ready! Looking around her
at the raging battle, the bluish-green eyes grew even bigger when she
realized what was happening.  They were being engaged so heavily and in
such a way that certain areas of the crater rim were unprotected by the
dragons.

"Damn!" Breezy exclaimed, just as Brona's army swarmed over the rim.


{Tag: All - Hah! and you guys thought you were gonna get off easy!  It's
gonna be a long night I think!<G>}


Respectfully submitted,
Jasmine and Vandi
aka
Tree Deutscher
treedr@yelmtel.com

"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons - you are crunchy and taste
good with ketchup!"
















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