From:  John Pepper ;<trissana@aol.com >
Date:  Sun Feb 17, 2002  2:20 am
Subject:  [DL-T] Eyes In The Darkness

/snip from Jason's post/

Then as the searcher left, she sent for Jason. When he arrived, she smiled and
indicated the map in front of her. “We have something that needs some looking
into.” She pointed at the spot were B’larin said the farm was. “There is a

girl
here, who seems to be joined to a queen. I think you should go check it out,
and if possible bring both her and her dragon back to the warren.” she paused
thinking about how B’larin said the farmer reacted. “Take Dalmar with you if
you can, it might be a good idea to have someone who is not joined there, as
I’ve been told the father of the girl may have a problem with riders. And with
the reports of dragons and riders attacking land bound, it would be a good
idea
to stay wary.”

“I’ll leave as soon as I can.” Jason replied trying to figure out if he
should
be surprised, shocked, or just more than interested.
/end snip/

Dalmar
(dragon clinic, shortly afterward)

"A queen?" Dalmar asked, amazed when Jason had finished his story.
"What would a queen be doing out on a farm?"

"B'larin didn't know," Jason said. "He was too busy trying to avoid
being skewered by a farmer with a pitchfork."

"Well, good luck," Dalmar told the rider. "If you're able to get the
mystery dragon back to the warren, bring her by and I'll have a look at
her..."

"Actually, you're going along," Jason replied. "Warrenlady's orders."

Dalmar rolled his eyes. "Damn it Jason, I'm a dragonhealer, not a..."

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that one already," Jason said, turning for the
door and motioning for Dalmar to follow. "Look at it this way, at least
while you're at the farm you won't have to be swinging that broom around
trying to clean up this mess here."

(Later, after dark)

Starfire landed silently a short distance from the farm. Jason
clambered down from the saddle, then gave Dalmar a hand. "Don't want to have
Starfire come too close to the farm," he said. "If there's really a queen
there, she might raise the alarm if she senses another dragon nearby."

"Okay, satisfy my curiousity," said Dalmar. "Why are we doing this? If
this is some wilder, why not leave her where she is?"

"Well, B'larin wasn't really sure just what was going on," Jason said.
"The farmer was so anxious to get rid of him, maybe the wilder is holding the
family hostage and forcing them to serve her."

This didn't sound much like typical dragon behavior to Dalmar, but then
again he had to admit that at both Tinobal and Telnor he'd only dealt with
joined, warren-dwelling dragons. He'd never met an actual wilder, so had no
idea how one might act.

Soon, the rider and the dragonhealer were climbing over the fence that
surrounded the farm. They both looked around cautiously, but saw no
movement in the darkness. There was no dragon in evidence, so it was clear
that if there was in fact a dragon here it would have to be in one of the two
structures that looked large enough to hold a dragon. One was the barn, the
other was a long shed that looked like it might have been used to store farm
equipment. "I'll check the shed," Jason whispered. "You look in the barn.
If you see anything, tell Star and he can pass it along to me."

"Same here," Dalmar whispered. "Have him let me know if you run into
anything."

Dalmar stood in the shadows for a moment, watching Jason creep off
toward the shed. On the surface of it, Jason's job looked harder because he
had to cross a fair stretch of open ground to get to the shed, while the barn
was close and Dalmar could reach it while staying under cover of the
surrounding trees. But there was something about Jason that told Dalmar that
if anyone could slip past the farmer and his pitchfork, Jason could.

Dalmar quietly slipped around the corner of the barn, where he found a
small unlocked side-door. It opened with the barest of creaks, and the
dragonhealer slipped inside.

The place was dark and silent inside. Though Dalmar's eyes hadn't yet
adjusted, it didn't look to him like there was anything in here that one
wouldn't normally expect to find inside a barn. He decided the place was
empty, and the best thing he could do was to slip quietly out and wait for
Jason to return.

Until, that is, a pair of huge and luminous eyes opened in front of him,
their enormous gaze fixing on the dragonhealer. This was followed by a loud
hissing, like an enormous teakettle - or a very irritated dragon.

Dalmar backed against the wall. *Whoa!* he said. *I'm not hear to hurt
you, calm down!*

[Hah! As if you could!] the dragon replied haughtily, then caught
herself and peered more closely at Dalmar. [Hey....how come you can talk?
Humans don't talk!]

*Well, some of us can,* Dalmar told her. *My name's Dalmar,* he said.

[I am Mint,] the dragon responded.

*And you're a queen?* the dragonhealer queried.

[Well, of course, what else would I be?] came the response. [This is
amazing, I didn't think anyone other than my rider could talk to dragons.]

*A rider?* Dalmar asked excitedly. *You have a rider?*

[Didn't I just say that?] Mint replied. [Oh, here she is now!]

Behind Dalmar, the door opened quietly and a young redheaded girl
stepped inside. She peered uncertainly at Dalmar. "Mint said you
were...talking to her?" she asked. "She says you're from...a warren?"

"Yes," he said quietly. "I'm Dalmar, the dragonhealer of Telnor. "And
you are...?"

"Ann," the girl said simply. "So you're from the warren...I've always
wanted to see it. But what are you doing here? Does this have to do with
the dragon who was here earlier?"

"Yes," Dalmar agreed. "The dragon sensed your queen here."

"Telnor Warren," Ann said to herself. "I wish I could see it..."

[And there are other dragons there?] Mint inquired.

Dalmar assured the queen that there were, then turned to Ann. "What are
you doing here?" he asked. "A barn isn't a place for a dragon."

"My father won't let us go," Ann told him. "He says that if I have to
be a dragonrider, I have to be a dragonrider here."

"But dragons are social creatures," Dalmar protested. "I can tell your
queen isn't very old, but as time goes on she's going to be one *seriously*
disturbed dragon if she isn't allowed to associate with others of her own
kind."

Ann bit her lip, indecisive. "I don't know," she began, but was cut off
by the sound of a commotion outside. Ann looked horrified. "My father...!"
she said. "If he finds you here, I don't know what he may do. He might kill
you!"

"Then the time has come for you to make a decision," Dalmar said. "If
you want to come to the warren, I can get you there. I can give Mint an
image of the warren that she can use to teleport there."

(Tag Jason)

Submitted by:

John

Dalmar the Dragonhealer
Telnor Warren