Saul
***
<<big backpost .. I couldn't resist :)>>

>"So where is my granddaughter, son?" He chuckled when Saul started.
>"Unless you would prefer to be called Saul, of course, but... You married
>my daughter, which does make you my son."

"Married?" Saul stuttered, "Oh .. oh no .. we ..uh .." he stopped as he saw
the mans eyes on him.

"It's my understanding that Warren mates are as devoted and committed as
man and wife." Jerlyn stared him down, "You are committed to my daughter ..
are you not?"

"Um .. of course.." he gulped and leaned in closer to the man, "You see
it's just my parents were married. I expect better for me and Shawnee .."
his charming smile reappeared as he tried to smooth the way between them.

Jerlyn watched him for a moment, seeing the dragonrider nearly becoming
unnerved again. "You know, I've heard about you Saul of Whiteriver. I've
been warned by other fine noblemen to protect my daughters from you. They
told me you paid no heed to their requests .. particularly Lord Farrel of
Dunsbro. However knowing his daughter, I imagine staying away from her has
been tough."

Saul fought back a chuckle as he thought of Timma's not so subtle advances
.. however he was able to maintain a straight face with Jerlyn. He honestly
did want to be on his good side. After every thing the man had down for
Shawnee and the kids, he owed him all the respect he could muster. Which
when it came to noblemen usually wasn't very much. But this one .. this one
was different.

A moment later Jerlyn was chuckling and soon Saul was chuckling with him.
"Don't worry so much. I've heard from Chance and Derry all about your
devotion to Shawnee. My children tell me everything .."

"Everything .." Saul said, for a moment concerned that maybe the nobleman
had heard about his recent lapse with Gwyna.

"Everything .." Jerlyn finished eyeing the dragonrider pointedly.

"Well I can promise you that I do love Shawnee more then I ever thought was
possible. And I do promise to make her happy .."

"That's all a man can ask for his children."

*****

When word came of the attack on the new Junior Queenrider, everyone jumped
into action .. including Shawnee who was quickly sat back down by Chance.
"Shawnee if you take one more step, I'll tie you down myself, you're not
coming. Saul, I need you to gather some of the more experienced riders and
torches..." She frowned. "Who is the Watch rider tonight?"

Saul rattled off the names she was looking for without thinking and she
nodded, "Get him, as well."

Saul nodded and turned to Shawnee. He kissed her, "Be good."

"I'm going to get put back on duty tomorrow, Saul."

He nodded, "I know .. but for tonight you stay here." Of course the
dragonrider was still hoping that Clarissa would tell her she wasn't ready
to go back to patrols just yet. He'd like to keep her where she'd be safe.

He soon joined the others, climbing onto the brilliant blue of Fayloth's
hide and taking off to rescue the bear nomad.

<<NRPG: I won't rewrite the rescue, you guys have done that so well already
:)>>

Tevel
***
<<About the same time ..>>

>Ashelle's hands went rapidly to her temples. "Oooohhhhhh, not again! But
>where?? Who??"

>Tevel grabbed her to prevent the girl from buckling over, as her knees
>went weak, and held her against him. "What? What's the matter?!" Oaklah
>headed over and pressed her head against Ashelle...beginning to croon
>softly.

>Ashelle cursed, not wanting Tevel to see her in this state, but there were
>still more wraiths nearby...and it was like she was getting hit by more
>than one, the pain was so intense. She forced her eyes to focus, and
>gasped as she recognized the couple passing by.

Tevel was worried about the girl .. this certainly could not be normal. He
knew she got bad headaches .. but this .. this was serious!

Suddenly the Dragon, who head had been so close to him and Ashelle, raised
her head and bugled loudly. It was all Tevel could do to hold the girl up
and not raise his hands to cover his ears.

>"It's Trinale and Derry! There are wraiths inside them! Get Th'rin...or
>Xanthia! Somebody!"

He looked at the girl as she screamed, "What .. what are you talking
about?" But she went limp, fainting into unconsciousness. "Ashelle?
Ashelle??"

When she didn't answer he hoisted the girl up into his arms and moved as
quickly as he could toward the medical center. "Somebody .. help .. help
her."

But everyone was running around madly. He grabbed a woman's arm, "Where's
Thorin .."

The woman looked down at Ashelle, "He's busy. What happened?"

Tevel shrugged, "I .. I don't know. She has headaches .. and she started
screaming and then collapsed."

"Let's get her into room and I'll make sure Th'rin knows she's here."

"There's a spare bed in my father's room. In T'jellan's room. Can I put her
there?"

The woman looked at him, for a moment then nodded, "Go ahead."

Tevel picked Ashelle up again and headed down the hall to where T'jellan
was still sleeping. It was quieter at this end of the med center. That
would be much better for Ashelle. He laid her on the empty bed and pulled
the curtain between his father and the girl. Then he pulled up a chair and
sat down holding Ashelle's hand.

***

It seemed like forever before the woman came back. "Has she woke up?"

He shook his head, "No."

"That's probably for the best. Th'rin sent me with this." She handed him a
cup with a bitter smelling brew in it. "It smells bad, but it'll help.
Th'rin thinks the headache will pass quickly. Though he did say to keep her
away from the other end of the med center."

"Why? What's going on?" Tevel asked.

"Hellspawn."

Tevel looked at her in confusion, "Hellspawn?"

The woman shrugged, "I don't really understand it myself. But somehow
wraiths get into people and make then go .. crazy. Ashelle here seems to be
able to sense them. She gets headaches when wraiths are near. So we need to
keep her away from the others.. at least until the hellspawn are destroyed
and our people safe again."

Tevel nodded though he still didn't understand completely. "I'll watch her."

The woman nodded and left. Tevel stood and called to her, "Ashelle ..
Ashelle wake up."

Her eyes fluttered and she looked up at him, "T ..T .."

"Shhhh," he soothed, "You have to drink this. It'll help your headache."

"I'm better."

"Just drink it. For me."

She nodded and sat up, wincing a bit. She brought the cup to her lips and
drank down the bitter medicine. Grimacing, she asked, "Where am I?"

"Did you drink it all?"

She nodded and showed him the cup.

"You're in the med center. This is my father's room. You'll be safe here."

<<NRPG: Tag, Jeanette!>>

Saul
***

Shawnee was just laying Lynnie down after her final night feeding when Saul
landed on their ledge. "Any signs of anything?" Shawnee asked him.

"Very little," Saul shrugged.

"Who would do that, Saul?"

"I don't know," he said moving to pull her to him. "I don't know. But know
you know why I don't want you out there .. anything could happen and I
couldn't bear to lose you."

"And how do you think I feel .."

"Shawnee, it's different. I'm a trained dragonrider .. I've been doing this
for a long time."

"I'm trained too .."

"I don't want to argue about this."

"Me either," She said hugging him tightly. "We'll let Th'rin decide when I
see him tomorrow."

He nodded. He'd heard about the Hellspawn and about Clarissa being out for
a while. He hoped Th'rin would be able to hold it together with only
Xanthia to help. He remember the woman crying about Shawnee to him earlier.
She seemed so .. young .. so inexperienced. How could she possibly be a
full healer?

Th'rin
***

Standing in surgery watching Xanthia was the hardest thing the young man
had ever had to do. The girl was a competent healer. But she was also
unpredictable .. and untried at surgery. But he needed trained healers now
that B'ril was gone. And Clarissa would be out for a while, so it would be
just the two of them.

Double shifts .. double work loads .. He had to know she could stand up to
it, because he couldn't do it alone.

And when she concentrated.. when she focused .. she was a thing of beauty.
Steady as a rock, clear as bell. If he could keep her focused then they'd
do well.

***

>Th'rin yawned.

>"You're tired. I'll finish the shift, I'll stay here till you come for
>your shift in the morning," Xanthia suggested, feeling wired from the rush
>she got from doing surgery.

>"Sure?"

>"Yes. Head healer needs his sleep," Xanthia grabbed Th'rin's hand and
>began pulling him toward the exit.

Th'rin nodded to her giving in. He was too tired to fight anyway. So he
thanked her and headed home. He climbed the steps rather then calling for
Areena who was already sleeping, and walked tired past where the two
dragons were sleeping, not evening noticing as Areena quivered in her sleep.

Merissa was already in bed asleep, so he crawled in beside her and was soon
sound asleep himself.

Areena
***

The little dragon's body ached as she lay curled up next to the large
lavender queen. Her skin was itchy and scratchy and needed oiling
desperately. But Th'rin hadn't had time. He was so busy caring for those
who were sick .. she didn't want to disturb him.

Chrysthal did what she could sending vapors of steam to moisten the
dragon's hide. It wasn't as effective as the nice oil Th'rin made up, but
it worked and was the one thing that allowed her to sleep.

Chrysthal cared for the dragon as any mother would, despite not really
being her mother. But Areena was special and there was a bond between the
two that went beyond mother and child.

<It's happening, isn't it?> Areena had asked her earlier.

Chrysthal had nodded, <Yes, little one, it is.>

<My rider isn't ready ..>

<He will be, don't worry. We must concentrate on you while you are going
through your growing stage ..>

<Why did it take so long?>

Chrysthal had shrugged, <We grow when we are ready ..>

And indeed Areena was continuing to grow. Of course even if she doubled her
size, she would still be small at only about 35 feet .. but it was a far
cry from being the runt dragon some of the more unfeeling human's, like
Th'rin's father, had taken to calling her.

Th'rin
***
<<Next Morning>>

Th'rin had showered and dressed and now stood on the ledge looking at the
barely recognizable dragon sunning herself. <Areena ..?>

She turned to him and smiled, <Th'rin .. are you going to oil me .. I could
use a good oiling .. Chrysthal did what she could last night .. but your
oil is so sweet.>

<Wh .. what happened?>

<I grew.> The dragon said matter-of-factly. < Now there is more of me. Am I
not beautiful?>

<You .. > he stopped unable to say more.

<Please, Th'rin, please oil me before you have to go to work.>

***

"My goodness!" he heard Merissa's voice behind him as he worked on oiling
his dragon. "Areena .."

He turned to look at her helplessly, "She grew .."

"I'll say! I thought she looked bigger yesterday .. but today .."

<Measure me, Th'rin .. please .. I want to know how big I am .>

Th'rin gulped, "Ummm, she wants us to measure her .."

"Okay .." Merissa said. They both looked at each other, but no more was
said as the junior queenrider moved to get the measured robe they'd been
using so far to keep tabs on the dragons growth.

***

It didn't take long, for Areena was very helpful. When they finished they
both looked at the rope and gasped. "Th'rin .." Merissa said, "What was she
yesterday?"

"17 feet , 5 inches.."

Both rider's looked at the opalescent dragon preening happily, now that she
was both oiled and measured.

"It's impossible," Th'rin said. "This can't be happening .."

"Ten feet over night .." Merissa breathed. "Gods, Th'rin. We see that all
the time with hatchlings.. but .."

Th'rin looked at the robe, where they had clearly measured just under 28
feet. Suddenly his legs felt weak. And he moved sat back into a nearby
chair, before he feel over. A panic seemed to set in as his face paled.
"It's gonna happen .." he breathed.

"What?" Merissa asked moving toward him ..

Suddenly there was a cry from Oberon's room, "MaaaaMaaaa!"

With barely a second look Merissa turned and hurried to the boy's room,
leaving Th'rin literally shaking, "It's gonna happen .." he repeated.

Suddenly Areena's thin head was nuzzling him, <I love you, Th'rin ..>

He looked at her and her soothing presence seemed to take away some of his
panic. <Gods Areena .. I .. I can't ..>

<It'll be all right ..>

She hummed softly and he relaxed more. Finally she stopped, <Xanthia is
looking for you.>

He nodded, <I should go ..>

<I'll give you a ride. I have to show everyone how much I've grown.>

***

After checking on all his patients, Th'rin met Shawnee in examining room
three. "So you want to get back to patrolling."

"Absolutely." She grinned.

"All right let's see how your doing?"

She climbed up on the examining table and put her feet in the stirrups. "I
hate these things," she muttered.

He chuckled, "All my patients say that."

 <<NRPG: Barb .. over to you>>

Regards,
Saul & Fayloth
Th'rin & Areena
Tevel
***
NRPG: I hope I hit everything I wanted to .. or else there'll be a part two! :)

Kris
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       \oo/     Kristen Gant
        ~~      (AKA: Darlea & Makayla, Keldarra Warren, Courier
                      Waylene & Aura, Marrid Warren, Warrenlady
                      Meena & Vonn, Norwall Warren, Wingleader
                      Kalewyn & Sabbith, Telnor Warren, Dragonrider
                      Saul & Fayloth, Whiteriver Warren, Searcher
                      Merybelle Barmen, City of Ralengarde, Innkeeper
                      Ce'lot & Britche, Xylain Warren, Wingleader
                http://homepage.interaccess.com/~sgant/Kris/kris.htm
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