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| Engell's Private Den |
| "Heh, can you believe this?" Engell chuckled. He raised his hand to the small silvery-white muzzle and Tehndarinth gave off a purr of delight. "I can," Kalkin smirked. He lifted his own hand, but it held a glass of wine. "Here's to your new life, Rider." "Pfah!" Engell said, grasping the silvered head and hugged him to his face. Snowflake the white flitter squawked loudly, and tried to get away. "You'll be better at flying than I, Kalkin." "Don't count on it," Kalkin said, still smirking. "You don't think that I'd be the one teaching you, do you?" He waved his long fingers and indicated the pair of riders who slunk into the lord-rider's quarters. Groaning, Engell realized it was C'lark and Lo'pez. He'd never get out of it. I do not WANT to get out of it! I want to fly, my rider! Don't you want to fly in the air with me? I thought you loved me... The half-forlorn, half-knowing tone of the dragon was almost too much for the lord. "I... Well, let's get this show in the sky," Engell muttered. C'lark handed his superior a set of nicely oiled riding straps. As the three of the others got Tehn into the sky for the first time, Kalkin remained in the den, laughing silently to himself and Sixth... |
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| "It just amazes me that you've still got all these volunteers to help you clean the weyr..." Tiyanni gave Lord Rider Engell a wink. There were usually three or four young brats who had clung on to the lord's request that he not be forced to work overly hard. He was not a young man after all. Nor was he one to be trifled with. The dragon had grown more than large enough, and more than talented, to keep the weyr or den cleaner than it had been before he'd learned to teleport. That tremendous load off of Engell's work schedule meant that the kids had to keep coming up with things to do with Tehndarinth. "They keep him clean, but then again I do that too," Engell said with a grin. "They keep the furs and reeds on the couch nice and clean, always getting the best ones." "And now you're off?" Tiyanni asked, quietly. The children had long since been shooed out of the den, but both adults knew they were just around the doorway, listening in. Engell moved to a more elegant, yet more unnerving, form of communication. I think, he thought into Tiyanni's mind, rather unlike a dragon's mind would do, that I am off. We are. We've got things to do at our new home, anyway. I have people to see, and Houses to build. Jolting back a bit, at the quiet, but intimate mental contact, Tiyanni nodded. "I see. Well, announce yourself when you want to visit, Lord Engell." "I shall. Tehndarinth will doubtless do it for me." As if to prove it, the silvery-marked white dragon outside bugled loudly. The three children who had been murmuring outside rushed back into the room, squealing about leaving and taking them with, and why did they have to go really? The silver-white dragon nudged the favorite of the three, a pudgy boy, and bespoke them carefully, as Engell would often do. I will come back. You will get to scrub me. I have always liked it when you do that for me. Do not forget to do your own chores, and perhaps some day you will come visit us on your own dragons. That said, the children scampered off, and left the rider, weyrwoman, and dragon, to mull over how to get Engell's stuff back in one piece... He'd done way too much gather-day shopping... |
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| "Where've you been?" Engell asked Snowflake. The flitter gave off a little squik, and fluttered her wings. "Annnd," the lord of Alabaster furrowed his pale eyebrows together, "what have you got there?" In fact, the tiny flitter had an even tiner egg in her forepaws. She rolled it around a little, and purred out a pleading little sound. "You can keep it, I guess... I wonder what it is?" Engell asked. When the egg hatched, though, Snowflake disappeared and brought back a little bit of meat. Engell wondered what in the world was going on, when a tiny feline with little flitter wings hatched and yeowled its displeasure at the lack of food. He fed it, assisted by Snowflake. "I guess this means you're ours... Mystere." |
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| Not even two weeks had gone by when Engell heard a bit of a ruckus below the Tower at Alabaster Aerie. He sighed, but did not ask Tehndarinth about it. He'd find out soon enough. It was Sixth, chatty little thing, getting all worked up about something. That something turned out to be much more major than Engell ever imagined. He wanted to go to another mating flight, which wasn't out of the ordinary for the blue. It was a frenzy-style flight, which was a bit odd, and it wasn't on either the old world OR Alskyr, it was at ... "Where?" Engell asked aloud, though he was speaking to his dragon. Lao Daemia. I think that Sixth's rider will have more to say. I will wait until you have heard about it... So Engell patiently waited, and soon enough there was a distinct rap on his office door. It was Kalkin of course. With news. Read on? |
| After returning from Lao Daemia (with an odd assortment of looks from the peanut gallery at the Aerie, having grown rather attached to the girl latched on to his arm...) Engell was in the mood to find out more about the world they had arrived upon. While it was true that he studied it from afar, with Tehndarinth eager to fly about he was more likely to explore. After so many years watching dragon riders and their flights, Engell was proud to be a part of their world. Alskyr was their new home, so he was going to look around. He'd heard of a northerly Caer having a clutch, not that he wanted to start playing diplomat again. He wanted to check out how other caers worked. You can take the Lord out of the Hold, but you can't take the urge to Hold out of the lord... The visit to Trandiok, Engell was pleased to see other new caerlets and young people scurrying about. He fondly remembered his years of assembling the right riders to defend Alabaster's investments. He wandered down a random hallway, and Mystere and Snowflake both started chittering. Snowflake lept off his shoulder, while Mystere fluttered to the ground and walked around a bit. Snowflake urged her human on. "Another egg..." He groaned. It was hatching, he couldn't refuse to hold it. And it was little surprise that when it hatched, it was a female silver caerlizard. A cute one, at that. Outside, the wind was kicking up and snow blew across Tehn's wings, causing the dragon to huddle down beside someone else's bond in the temporary shelters for visitors. It is cold! Not like the nice cold of my hatching, this is really chilly! I won't be more than a moment... Engell replied, as the flitter came from her egg. "Blizzard," he named her, as Snowflake looked extra pleased with herself. "Someday you'll have to find yourself a mate, little Snowflake, and that way you'll stop finding me new companions..." |
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| Engell was getting into the swing of things, both in terms of flying his small silvered-white, and being able to do so at his leisure. Then, of course, there was another Flight... |
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