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If it had not been for her undying loyalty to her queen, Nairne would have long since assassinated at least many of Terohon's higher-ups. While she was powerful for a Dysiniu, she was not really on the level to take down Casandrias'Noctirni or Derekein. The lich himself, though, was rather an easier target. Most of his "power" came from little more than charisma, though she had to admit he was at least rather good at controlling the undead.
Unfortunately for him, though fortunately for her in Nairne's mind, Dysiniu were not actually undead as were not most wraiths. So while she was seemingly his servant, he had no actual power over her. Yet, the queen did so of course Nairne would go to the ends of the Nexus to fulfill her duties. That meant playing lapdog and now guard dog to a lich she would have much rather seen permenantly dead, so far as to follow him to this space station while he sought and dragon to bond. Just why, though, did he have to insist that she bond? At best, or worst depending on the point of view, Kiens only bonded to each other as part of their lifemating ceremony. Nairne was certainly not going to mate some offworlder dragon that gave their minds so freely to other beings! Much less one that Terohon would desire for her ranks. Nairne still had cover to keep, though, so instead of just picking a clutch and signing up for it like most prospectives on Star City did, she began "spying" on the parents of the clutches. Maybe if she was lucky, she'd find one that was very unlikely to bond, and then she would be free of having any connection with them. Even if one wanted her to "sponsor" them. Today, or at least this day shift, Nairne had returned to the bays after already looking in on the first three. Part Dysiniu, interesting but the thought made her a little uncomfortable; the Dark Court clutch which Terohon was standing for--absolutely not; big hairy elemental dragons weren't really her thing; and more big hairy dragons that also had feathers. No. The idea of actually pretending to be late or "accidently" missing a hatching was beginning to sound very tempting to Nairne, but she still had one more bay to look in. Why not, just gives me more time to waste away from the lich, Nairne thought bitterly to herself as she sat outside the doors of Bay 05, looking up at the keypad. Sitting in a way, that was, since her current form was more like a pool of blackness or an ink blot rather than draconian. Probably why the doors had not opened just yet. Grumbling mentally to herself she oozed up the wall, then through it and into the bay beyond. There she stretched out her shadow form, becoming a flat dragon-shape silouhette on the wall and overlooking the bay below. If her eyes had been more than faint golden lights on her velvety black surface, she would have blinked them. This bay was unlike most of the others, having been covered in a black resin substance like nothing she had ever seen. Nairne didn't know why, but it disgusted her in a way, though not to the same extent the Kirintor so freely giving themselves had. Down below in the center some of the resin had been cleared out, leaving a mossy area with multiple grey-brown shapes in it. By the queen, they can't call those dragon eggs! Nairne thought as she looked at them. They looked rather more like snake or saurian eggs! Among the eggs was something she didn't really recognize, though it looked like a human. His skin was an odd blue color, and his hair orange streaked with green. What interested Nairne the most, though, was the fact that he had ethereal wings--much like her race's human forms. Taking a deep whiff of the air, she confirmed that this man was indeed a Dysiniu male -- though she had never seen one like that before! "Gathering a large company of men," he read from a book where he leaned against one egg, "the Sheriff rushed to the church and confronted a surprised Robin who lamented the departure of his ally, Little John. A great fight ensued with Robin swiftly despatching twelve of the Sheriff's men and wounding many more until-" The male Dysiniu suddenly paused, looking up from the little tome and blinking around the resin-covered bay. Nairne froze, had he seen her? Smelled her? Sensed her in some way? ~Until, what?~ a new voice spoke up, and Nairne's ears flickered. It seemed to be coming from one of the eggs. To her knowledge, though, young never spoke within the eggs. Did they? "Until... ah..." the male Dysiniu had turned back to his book, and seemed to be making an attempt to figure out where he'd left off. Curious, and no longer willing to force the limited senses of her shadow form, Nairne took as much of a breath as she could and instead exchanged shadow for light bending through and around her, and the shape of a blob for her draconian one. Her paws, however, she still left slightly ethereal so they could stick to the resin in a strange way that really wasn't adhesive at all. What's he reading? the Dysiniu female thought to herself, silvery-white ears pricked up. Though her shadow form was comparatively weak, she had still been able to make out most of the strange man's words. Nothing like what I've heard before... Slowly she crept down the wall, carefully adjusting her intangibility so she wouldn't fall until her paws touched the "ground" level and her head was parallel to it, but whole hindquarters were still up on the wall itself. "-wounding many more until finally he broke his two-handed sword over the head of the Sheriff himself," the male continued, evidently having found his place. ~Hah!~ one pup announced over a ruckus of cheering that ensued. ~Sheriff deserved that, he did!~ But the storyteller continued guiltily among the murmurs of agreement, "Alas, Robin was finally captured and thrown into Nottingham prison." The eggs all began to groan and growl, until one announced over it all. ~Shaddup!~ ~Then what, then what?~ demanded another. "News of Robin's capture travelled back to Sherwood Forest and the outlaws were deeply distressed. Only Little John kept his head and put faith in the power of the Virgin Mary to keep Robin safe. One of Nairne's ears flicked back, flattening against her neck alongside the spikes at the "sounds" of the dragonet's voices. How odd, though their personalities amused her in a way. Still like children, but more adamant about what they thought was justice. Of course, she certainly didn't know what the sheriff had done so wrong. Sometime she'd have to read that book, when she wasn't being bothered by Terohon or his minions. The Dysiniu only moved a little more forward so that her hindend was off the wall. Despite the fact that her paws were more heavily padded than most dragons', her rear paws made a "thump!" that sounded unbearably loud to her ears. She winced, and quickly sat down, pulling tail and wings around her so that if anyone came too near they would be less likely to run into her. "Little John set off with Much the Miller's son and eventually spied the Monk and his page travelling on the road out of Nottingham towards London." Several of the dragonets growled telepathically at his reading. ~If that traitorous old monk doesn't get what's coming to him...~ one of the hatchlings muttered and an egg shook. The male Dysiniu leapt up suddenly, "Hey! Don't you even think of going premature on me over a story!" ~Well it's all that monk's fault the Sheriff knew Robin was in town! I hate traitors,~ the single dragonet continued and the others chimed in, supporting his opinion. One pup seemed to have a bit of an adverse suggestion, ~Well, maybe not all traitors,~ then as the din rose again she quickly made herself clearer. ~Well what if it's a bad guy going traitor for the good side?~ "It's a fine thing when someone turns from evil," the blue Dysiniu agreed in the silence that followed, "but someone who goes traitor once can easily go traitor again." ~So you shouldn't trust someone who says they've had a change of heart?~ "No-- just remember to let them earn that trust and prove they've changed their ways. Any heart that turns from evil to good is to be praised, but never forget to be wary of falsehood." ~Aaahhh,~ the pups murmured collectively, and their "father" seemed satisfied. For the moment, anyway, then as he looked up from the egg that had shook he met Nairne's golden eyes with his own, and a look of knowing passed across his face. She'd been found out. With a loud sigh Nairne relaxed her posture so that wings and tail settled more naturally. Then she let herself be seen. It was most like a creature just slowly fading into existance, though it wasn't quite the same thing as when she passed into the spirit realm. "Seems I'm caught, for the first time since I've been doing this," Nairne said grudgingly, plain tailtip flicking against the resined floor of the bay. "You knew I was here all along, didn't you?"
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