Day 15
Morning.

J'red had been asked to help out with training the young dragons.  He was
delighted to see how much they had grown.  He was to act as the wingleader
and put them through some patterns.  Truan was doing exceptionally well, and
he was glad to see how the boy was adjusting to warren life.  He knew it
helped that Moira had taken him under her wing...

And then he realized that Moira was not there at practice.  He didn't have
much time to think but he vowed that as soon as practice was over he was
going to find out where she was and how she was doing.

*****
After cleaning up, Firefly told J'red that Vasra's rider had gone to the
dining hall for lunch.  J'red grinned.  He was starving -- as usual -- and
he hurried there to join her.

Moira had just gotten a plate of food when he caught up with her.

"My Lady Moira, would you mind if I joined you?"  He asked bowing with a
small flourish, grinning.

She couldn't help but smile, and accepted.

They dined together in a companionable silence for about half the meal
before J'red brought up her missed training session.

Moira frowned, looking a bit distressed, "Trl'kin said I shouldn't worry...
that I was doing a good job with Vasra -- and that helping to find the cult
members was more important..."  She hesitated as she saw a dark cloud cross
J'red's face as his thoughts turned to his brother Jason -- who was under
house arrest at their father's estate.

Then he brightened. "I'm sure you will catch up.  Vasra is quick and I know
you are sharp.  They're just working on basics, now.  But you shouldn't miss
too many more of these pattern flying.  Those are vital when you learn to
fight in a wing."

*****
Tag Rhi... what does Moira have to say?
*****



Day 16
Morning

Jason had been sorry to hear that he'd missed a good party, but he was
excitedly anticipating the gathering that would be occurring later that
night at Clyde's hunting lodge.  Clyde had suggested that he go see Pheran
and Keltian before the main event and carry them the all important password
and other information to find the meeting -- not that Jason wasn't sure that
they already knew all of that -- but it was just in the "spirit" of the cult
to not announce the location of the leader's gathering officially until the
day of the meeting.

He was led by a servant to the room where the two were waiting... and was
surprised to find a third man also there whom he didn't recognize.... and
then was even more surprised to see off in the corner some workmen preparing
to have their fun with ... could that be Pheran's sister, Raine?

Jason gaped as he was introduced to Drezak... and couldn't keep his eyes off
of the action in the corner.

The other men chuckled cruelly.  "You want a turn at the dragonrider whore?"
Pheran asked with a sneer.  "What do you think men, should we reward Jason
for all his hard work in setting up that coal-poisoning scheme -- of which,
by the way, I really admired your cell's handling."


Jason swallowed, realizing that he was staring at the naked buttocks of the
workman, who was being pleasured by Raine, who moaned and sobbed as he
filled her yet again.  His face flushed with embarrassment -- and in a very
odd way with desire.

He managed to find his voice, "I didn't realize that Raine was... a rider?"

"Oh, no, worse than a rider -- a rider-lover!"  Keltian snorted.  "She
doesn't even have the excuse of having one of those beasts in her mind
telling her what to do!  She'd just happily spread her legs to one of those
half-men, just to get the chance to have a dragon between them as well -- I
wouldn't be surprised if she'd begged to ride one naked!"

Jason tried to drag his eyes away from the scene on the couch -- but for a
16 year old, the site of naked bodies, especially a female one -- was just
too irresistible.  He found his manhood straining against his pants, and his
breath was coming in short gasps as he watched another workman climax.  The
two men pulled up their trousers and exited, nodding their appreciation to
their employers.

"So... I believe it's your turn."  Drezak laughed mirthlessly.

Flushing and sweating, Jason stood motionless like a rabbit startled by a
fox.  He looked from the waiting men to the naked woman and back.  "You want
me to... with *her*... here?  now?"  Jason sputtered.

The three men laughed.  Pheran asked, "Would you prefer not to have an
audience?  That could be arranged.  But be careful, she still has claws!"

Clapping his friends Keltian and Drezak on the shoulders, Pheran pulled them
towards the exit.  He hissed to Jason as he left, "She shouldn't give you
any problems... but if she does, just call.  We know how to deal with her."
The last said as he looked with disgust at the creature that had once been
his sister.  The girl shrunk away from the look in his eyes, whimpering.

When the three had left, Jason grinned, not believing his good fortune.  He
hadn't been able to have his way with that dragonrider-slut Elissa whom
Jared -- correction, J'red, the half-man -- had brought to his father's
estate -- but here was one offered, waiting and ready!  Jason didn't
hesitate.  He swiftly dropped his pants and mounted the girl.  It was over
much too quickly, as he emptied his lust into her.  He never even looked at
her face, for if he had, he might have been frightened by the look of pure
hatred that was in her eyes....

*****
Tag: does Raine have any thoughts?

*****
J'red entered the dining hall, piling his plate with enough food to feed
about 2 people with a normal appetite, and found a seat.  He was startled by
a message that Firefly suddenly passed on to him.

<*My rider!  Foil, tells me that your brother is there, with his rider.*>

J'red frowned, <He must be mistaken.  Jason is at my father's estate under
house arrest until the Guild of Swords can come for him.>

<*No, my rider, Foil assures me that his rider was just introduced to Jason
Fowler, your brother.*>

He didn't have much time to ponder this situation, though he knew that he
would deal with Jason when the time came!  He stared at the food in front of
him, he was startled
 yet again, but this time by Kanler, who had snuck up on him while his mind
was occupied.

<Snip from Barb's Post>
>He had a trip to make and knowing he couldn't go by himself.. Fine thing
>when the Wingsecond's  partner broke the rules...
>
>He found the man in the dining hall just sitting down to start in on the
>food plied on the plate before him.
>
>"You got anything to do for the next few hours?" he asked reaching over to
>steal a crispy slice of bacon off the mans plate.
>
>"What's you got in mind?" J'red asked.
>
>"I need to make a trip home to see my father and wanted someone to go along
>with me who knows about what's going on. I need to fill him in on what's
>been happening around here and see how much help he might be able to give
>when the time comes."
>
>"Sure. No problem as long as we're back before I have to leave for my
patrol."
>
>"So.." Kanler grinned. "How's your patrol partner getting along since we
>brought her back?"
<END SNIP>

"My partner?  Derry? ... Oh, you mean Elissa?  Fine, I guess... I haven't
really talked with her much -- maybe she's avoiding me? -- and I was
reassigned to patrol with Tarv temporarily."

"You seem a bit... distracted.  Is everything okay?"  Kanler asked with
concern.

J'red hesitated.  Should he tell his friend what 'Foil has said about Jason?
But instead he said, "Yes, everything's fine... you just made me think about
Elissa, that's all.  And I've been worrying about Moira and Truan, too.  I
saw them yesterday, but only briefly...."

Kanler nodded as he snatched a slice of toast from the tray.

"You want my breakfast?  I'm not very hungry this morning..."  J'red grinned
as he offered the plate to Kanler.

"Who?  Me?  Nah!  But if you're done, let's get going!  So you don't miss
your patrol...."


In a short time the two young men had mounted their dragons and teleported
to Kanler's family estate.

<Snip from Barb's Post>
>They landed on the green sweeping lawn in front of Kanler's family home a
>half an hour later. And while the home wasn't as big as the Vaddon Estate
it
>was a rather nice place and Kanler had loved growing up there.

A male servant led them to an office where they found Kanler's father going
over the books.

>"Why Kanler what do I owe this visit?" his father said once he saw who had
>entered the room. That the two of them were close was easy to see as the
>older man came around his desk to shake his sons hand.
>
>"It's not a happy time father," the rider said once the three of them were
>seated. "We've come to fill you in what's happening at the Warren right now
>and what we've found out about the people causing the trouble."
>
>Between them, Kanler and J'red told his father what all they had learned
and
>answered as many questions as they could. Holding nothing back from the
man.
>
<SNIP>
>"Whatever I or my people can do to help is yours for the asking," Lord
Kanen
>swore heatedly when they were through. "You've only to let me know what we
>may do when the time comes."
>
>"I was hoping you'd say that father," Kanler grinned roguishly. "Lord
Vaddon
>and Lord Fowler have offered the same thing. We would just prefer that you
>not talk about this to anyone before time."
>
>"No, no... certainly not. Never know who might be in the pay of these
>bastards and don't want them warning them before we can strike."
<END SNIP>


J'red got back in plenty of time for his patrol.  Firefly told him that
Tarv'renon could be found in the dining hall ... and J'red grinned.  Since
he hadn't eaten his usual breakfast he was now very hungry and the dining
hall sounded like the perfect place to meet up.

<Snip from Morgie's Post>
>*Dining hall, lunch time*
>
>He sat smiling to himself, as he examined the button he'd found the
>other day. It was really quite curious.
>
>"Mind if I join you?" Tarv'renon looked up to see J'red standing there
>with a tray.
>
>"No, not at all. I just saw Xanthia."
>
>"Oh, how's she doing?" J'red asked as he took a seat.
>
>"Just fine! She's learning to walk again." He flipped the button in
>the air as if it were a coin and attempted to catch it. But instead
>the button bounced from the table to the floor, and landed to rest
>beneath J'red's seat.
>
>"Here's your..." J'red stopped mid-sentence, his expression changed
>from jovial to grave as he examined the item in his hand. "Where did
>you get this?"
>
>"That old button? Found it at the caravan site, seemed too nice to
>leave... why?" Tarv'renon answered honestly.
>
<END SNIP>

"Did you notice the crest?"  J'red asked.

"Crest?  No... I didn't ..."  Tarv reached over for the button again, this
time taking a good look at the crest that was embossed on the front.

"That's Lord Gingle's."  J'red said, "I'm sure of it."

"But why would a button with Lord Gingle's crest be at the caravan site?"
Tarv frowned as he turned the button around, noticing the broken threads and
piece of cloth still dangling from the back.

"It didn't get dropped there on accident.  Look at those threads.  Someone
yanked that off a jacket..."

"Someone ... someone who was struggling against an attacker...?"

"Or a would be rapist!"  J'red frowned darkly.  "I think I need to talk with
that survivor... and see if she can describe any of the people who were
there...."

"You mean if any of them looked like Lord Gingle? Oh, J'red.... Lord Gingle
is OLD, he wouldn't be out riding about attacking caravans!"

"No, but his *son* might!"  J'red recalled that his father had mentioned how
Jason had been spending a lot of time at Lord Gingle's and had become
friendly with his son Clyde.... the pieces were starting to come together.

The two walked over to the medical center before they headed out on patrol,
only to find out that the girl had gone for a walk.  They didn't have time
to track her down, but J'red vowed that he'd talk to her about her
attackers.

*****

TAG Morgie -- do they find anything else interesting during their patrol?
*****

Evening of Day 16.

J'red had been called in, with a few other riders, to talk with Derry and
Kanler as they planned how they would take down the leaders of the cult.
They had heard from 'Foil that his rider was being taken to a hunting lodge
by carriage, and 'Foil had passed on a visual to all their dragons so that
they could teleport in when needed.


*****
Tag to anyone who wants to join in on the plans...
*****

The meeting was suddenly interrupted as the dragons keened in loss as Dandy
teleported away into oblivion.

<Snip from Kat's post>
>There was a slight break in the keening for only a
>second as they waited for Cricket and her rider to reappear, having failed
>to stop Dandy. It was only a moment before the dragons realized that
>Cricket was gone too. Their keening doubled in strength as they realized
>that the young Queen and her rider were gone.
<END SNIP>


The riders slumped in shock.  J'red looked up to see the face of his patrol
partner, his friend -- the admired wing-leader -- crumple in despair.

*****
Tag to all present.
*****
The cult gathering:

Jason was surprised by the large turnout at the meeting.  Most of the
meetings he'd gone to had been with his cell, and with a few leaders when
they had been planning their attacks.  Jason had never seen so many of the
cult leaders together in one place and he worried about this being safe.  He
had gotten used to the creed that if you don't know them, you can't betray
them.  Up to this point, he had only known the Gingles, Keltian and
Pheran -- and his own cell, mostly made up of "loyal servants" from the
Fowler Estates.

He mingled among the guests, barely paying attention as Drezak was
introduced to the other leaders.  When suddenly an eerie sound echoed
through the room.

<SNIP Bridget's post>
>He blinked, paying attention to the room again, and promptly wished he
>hadn't.  His breathing rang harsh in his ears, but the rest of the room was
>silent and he didn't know why.  And that was very dangerous indeed.
<END SNIP>

Jason stared around him, seeing all the frightened and angry faces.  The
silence was shattered by many loud voices.


They shouted to no one in particular...
"Did you hear that?" "That was a dragon!" "Was it a wilder?" "Do you think
it knows we're here?"  "What do you think that means?"


The yelling subsided into a disquieted murmur as Keltian raised his hand,
attempting to get everyone's attention...

*****
Tag to all there...
*****

NRPG:  I have a Merissa post in the works... but I think that that post
won't affect this one, as it is dealing with different characters (other
than Tarv'renon) -- such as Th'rin's family (Kl'eve, Racine and Mara), and
Adeliannae.

Respectfully submitted by:
Arlene Jacobs
aka J'red, rider of Firefly