H'nry turned and watched briefly as the three dragons disappeared and
teleported back to Telnor.  Then he turned back to the Shadow, "Okay, 
now what?" he asked.

The Shadow whistled a short pattern before answering, "My men 
disappear while we wait."

"They're going to leave us alone?" H'nry asked.

"Yes, but I can count on you not to do anything rash since Lyonnia is 
still my captive." there was a bemused look on his face, letting the 
other man know that he really had no choise.

"Good point."

"I know."

A few minutes passed and H'nry stood with the Shadow, waiting.  
H'nry couldn't be absolutely certain that the Shadow's men had 
withdrawn, but he couldn't see them any more. He began to wonder 
what the Shadow was waiting for.  Perhaps he felt that time was 
on his side.

Finally, the Shadow said, "That's long enough, don't you think?"

"Yes, I'd agree," H'nry said sarcasticly.

A moment later the dark green dragon appeared over the trees ahead 
of them and deposited Lyonnia on the ground near Dianthus.  The 
green dragon did a tight turn and settled on the ground behind 
the Shadow.

"Well, it's time for me to be off," the Shadow said, "Perhaps 
we'll meet again."

He reversed his sword and swung at H'nry's head, intending to knock 
him unconscious.  H'nry saw what the Shadow intended and stepped 
toward the Shadow, bringing his arm up to absorb the blow.  
Additionally H'nry swung hard with his other hand at the Shadow's 
head.  Both men made contact, the Shadow loosing his footing and 
sprawling to the ground.

H'nry stepped back, picked up a large tree branch and approached 
the Shadow.  A roar broke H'nry's concentration and when he looked 
up he saw the green dragon about to pounce on him like a cat. H'nry 
dodged and rolled to the side just beyond the dragon's claws.

The Shadow was on the other side of his dragon and took the 
opportunity to mount him.  The dragon sprung into the sky and 
disappeared over the trees.

H'nry could do nothing but watch.

A moment later he realized how foolish his act of bravery had 
been.

He heard a piteous cry of a dragon and spun around quickly to face 
the blue. It was then that he noticed the girl he had thought to be 
the young dragon rider was someone else interiorly.

Lyonnia was gone!!!

Her blue was going crazy, her loud angry roars could have been 
heard for miles. Only the presence of Dalanth, who had reappeared 
when called for by his rider had keep her from trying to fly off 
after the green and her human.

"Oh Lord," H'nry cursed, his eyes looking off into an empty sky, 
"What have I done?"
**********
(Shadow's hide out)

Shadow remembered the type of man H'nry was. He knew that the rider 
would have some sort of back up plan for his capture. Over the 
years several men had tried, some nearly seceding, but Shadow had 
yet to be caught unaware. He was becoming a master of back up plans 
himself. His quick thinking had saved his life many of time over the 
last couple years. This time proved to be no different.

As the green soared away from the ground, Shadow stole a quick 
glance behind them. He had just enough time to see the big orange 
dragon that was H'nry's, pop it to the air, before giving the green 
the order to go between.

"Where's the girl?" Shadow asked the first one of his men who came 
out to see if their leader was okay.

"She's in the stables," the man laughed. "Don't worry she won't get 
away. Daon and Klause tied her up real good and tight." 

His next laugh never cleared his throat, it was choked off mid sound 
as Shadow's hand shot out to grab him by the neck.

"What do you mean, they tied her up and put her in the stable?" his 
glaze was steady and unblinking. "My orders were for her to taken to 
my room and locked in. Why weren't they carried out?" 

The man was afraid. He'd seen what the Shadow was capable of when 
another of the men had tried to challenge his right to lead. He 
wanted no part of it.

"Klause said she was different, 'cause of her being a dragon rider 
and all. He said she could call her dragon here and ....." an angry 
glance from ice green eyes shut him up.

"I'll deal with Klause and Daon later," He promised letting the 
man go. "I want the girl brought to me NOW!! And she had better 
be unharmed."

The man knew better than to delay.

Shadow was pouring himself a stiff drink when the knock came at 
the door. When he opened it to the two men carrying the sleeping 
girl, he instructed them to take her into his bedroom and *gently* 
lay her on his bed.

Sometime later he heard sounds coming from his room and got up, 
crossed the floor and reached for the door knob. She was standing 
next to the bed, looking somewhat dazed when he walked into the 
room.

"Well I can see you're finally awake," he remarked with a slightly
mocking bow. "I do hope your little nap refreshed you, even if it 
delayed your departure form our hospitality." He informed her as 
he pulled one of the chairs from the table, turning it around so 
that he could straddle the seat and rest his arms on the back rest.

She just stared back at him,  not speaking, but he could tell by 
the fiery look in her hazel eyes that she was discarding plans to 
do him bodily harm as quick as her mind could come up with them. 
It made him smile, she had some spirit then. 

"I'm having some food brought in for you to eat, since you missed 
yourevening meal," his green eyes took a slow lazy look over at the 
bed. "And I won't have you going back to your warren with tales of 
how I starved you.

When his eyes met her's again he wondered at the rosy blush that 
had crept into her cheeks. Was it anger or embarrassment, he 
wondered, then saw her eyes dart back towards the bed. Ah!! so 
she's wondering if anything happened.


  "When you're finished I'll take you to a point in the hills, 
where your fellow riders will be able to come and pick you up. 
Rescue you from my evil clutches," he smiled wickedly at her, 
green eyes leaving her in no doubt he found her appealing, making 
her blush again. Then he sighed, "If only I hadn't given my word 
to the other rider that I would turn you free......I could be 
tempted to get to know you better."

He stood up then and walked across the room until he stood 
towering over her. His hand reached up to play with a strand of 
her unrulely red hair, a sad wistful smile curved over his lips 
as his eyes met hers.

"I think I'll claim one prize to remember you by, before I let 
you go," his voice soft and mesmerizing, as if casting a spell 
around her, leaving her unable to move or protest as his mouth 
moved to cover hers, in a kiss so soft and sweet, that it left 
her dazed and confused.

He knew kissing the girl was not the smartest thing he had ever 
done. It was crazy. He hadn't ment for it to go on, but her taste 
was so sweet and innocent, unlike anything he had known in the 
last few years, that he couldn't help himself, from taking a 
second and then a third kiss before he finally released her.

"So," he said, smiling lazily, "I see you want it too."

The girl blushed once again, and he could tell she was furious 
with herself. So..she had enjoyed their kiss as much as he had, 
and was now angry with herself because of it.


A strange look came into her eyes. A look he knew only to well. 
Her dragon was speaking to her. He had to put a stop to it 
quickly. The green had told him that the girl and the blue where 
a newly joined pair.  They couldn't have had that much practice 
teleporting then, and there was no way he could allow the girl to 
try out newly learned skills at the risk of loosing her dragon.

He reached out and grabbed her by the arm, forcing her to look at 
him again. "I wouldn't show her this cabin if I was you.  It's 
much too small for her, and she might reappear as part of the bed 
over there.  Don't get any ideas." he said threateningly,

Lyonnia,  nodded wordlessly 

"If It'll make your dragon feel any better," he said calmly. 
"Tell her that I'll be releasing you soon, but if I see, or my 
dragon senses any other dragons in the area, I'll drop you to 
the ground from up above, before I'll allow myself to fall into 
any of their traps."

He saw her nod her head silently agreeing to do as she was told, 
he could only hope she wouldn't try anything foolhardy that might 
get herself killed. or her dragon.

"What do you want me too do?" her words barely above a whisper, 
but he heard them anyway.

"I want you to tell your dragon that I am going to take you to a 
place where you will be safely let go," he instructed. "When I am 
gone, you will take off your blind fold and then you can give the 
picture of where you are to the blue," an amused expression 
crossed his face, "If your blue wants, she can bring the other 
dragon rider who stayed behind to wait for you."

Still staring at him, she thought to Dianthus *Di, tell H'nry 
that I'm okay and that the Shadow is going to take me somewhere, 
where I'm going to be let go.*

"Done," she said to the Shadow.

"Good, good."  He drifted over to the bed, where he sat down on 
the edge. "Okay.  I have a little question to ask you.  There's a 
certain new dragonrider I'm interested in."  He shrugged.  
"Personal reasons. But I would like you to please tell me 
about her."

Lyonnia stared quizzically at the man.  "I'm not going to tell 
you anything," she said determinedly, curious but resolute in 
her decision.

"Ah, but you will," His smile sent chills down her back. "Her name 
is Tera."

Suddenly,  she flew into a rage. "You...you..." she couldn't seem 
to get the words out.  Her hands clenched and unclenched by her 
side spasmodically,  "Did you order what happened a week ago?" she 
said very slowly, emphasizing each word.

"Do what?" he asked, a faint frown on his face. 

"You know exactly 'what'" Lyonnia answered, getting madder by the
minute. "You ordered that attack on Tera, didn't you?"

"Attack?"  He stood up from the bed and strode over to her.  His 
lazy smile was gone, replaced by an utterly expressionless face.  
"You're going to tell me everything that happened a week ago," 
he said, his voice bordering on deadly and anxious.

Nonplussed by his reaction, Lyonnia was silent for a moment, 
then told him all she knew about what had happened.  With each 
of her sentences, his frown deepened, and his anger built 
getting hotter and hotter.

When she finished speaking, he turned away, not wanting her to 
see how close he was to losing control. If those two bastards 
weren't already dead, he'd have taken great pleasure in doing 
the job himself.  There had really been a girl asking about him 
at the Blue Dragon Inn. Still the men should have come to tell 
him about it rather than try to take care of it themselves. Well, 
they paid for their sins. Shadow prayed it would be a lesson to 
the rest of his men should any of them think they could just walk 
into the warren and make off with one of it's people. He would give 
the order that the girl  and the Warren were to be left alone for 
now on. Or they would have him to face.

First things first, he needed to get the girl rider back to her 
people. He had given his word that she would be returned unharmed 
and he ment to keep that promise. 

 "We promised to get you safely to your leaders.  We'll do that 
now." He grabbed a cloth from his pocket and tied it securely 
over her eyes.

Blindfolded, she was led outside and, led to the green dragon. 
Shadow helped her to mount then climbed up behind her. After making 
sure the flying straps were secure around her he gave the green the 
picture of where he wanted to go. 


Moments later, they popped in over a field of yellow flowers and the 
green slowly circled to the ground. His feet had just touched the 
ground and his human was helping the girl slide over his side when 
the green sensed other dragon thoughts coming nearer.

*We have to go now!!!* he sent the urgent thought to his human. 
*They are near.*

Shadow had no choice but to let go of the girls hand, letting her 
fall the last couple of feet, as the green leapt off the ground and 
climbed into the air as fast as he could. Just before they went 
between, Shadow saw the wing of dragons heading towards them.

**Let's go home.** he told the green, in his mind a picture of a 
cave high on the side of a cliff over looking a small body of water.

*Yes let's,* the green agreed. *It'll feel good to swim in 
our lake>**

*****Submitted by:*****************
Barbara
Voice of:
Tera & Sundellath (Telnor)
Ga'brin & Preston (Telnor)
Dan'yar & Shinner (Cleft)
& The Shadow ( parts unknown)

NRPG from Lyn: Okay, this fixes the crosspost.  Hope you don't mind, Alton. 
Post away, folks.