BACK!

Abby watched the eggs day after day. Both she and Norm pulled spots guarding the chamebrs from kids and criminals. Both of them rather thought that Jeyann had given them this duty so they could see for themselves the dragons and their behaviors. In their off hours, which were plentiful, the cops (they would never consider themselves "ex-" cops, because until they were both dismissed from the force, they'd uphold every law they could) learned more and more about dragon anatomy, riding skills and the like.

Things that the younger, less earthly students learned with them.

"Just a few weeks ago I would have shot at that guy," Norm said quietly about a strange alien person who strolled the halls as though he was nothing out of the ordinary.

"A few weeks ago, your shooting skills sucked," Abby muttered with a grin. "How many fingers do Ryslen dragons wing sails have... Hmn..."

They pondered the spadeless tail, the crested neck, the solid and sparred wing features of different dragons.

"I'm noticing some patterns here... Look at this one, it's supposed to be from Sapphire - but this one here was a younger bond, and there's a bigger sail, curved wings..."

"There are traits to look for, in every dragon line." Said someone, presumably a Ryslen dragon expert. He had scars that said he used to be on a fighting dragon, but a smile that said he was no longer needed on duty. Both Abby and Norman certainly knew that look very well indeed. But he didn't stop to just chat. "The eggs are stirring, and you won't want to miss them if they hatch and you're not there."

They hustled down with a couple dozen others, hurrying past people who carried trays of food and pitchers of water. The hatching went on, and... Neither of them paired up with a dragon. Slightly disappointed, but assured that they would get another chance, as there were more eggs left on the sands - three mothers meant many chances indeed.

"They did say that Grace and Kimball's dragons are a hatching apart," Abby said, as Norman paced around their dorm's common room. "We haven't come all this way to give up now."

"I'm not giving up, I'm ... just hoping that there's nothing wrong with us, that a dragon wouldn't want. Did you see how happy those kids were?"

"I know, Norm, we'll get there. We will." Abby's heart raced. Of course he didn't need to be a telepath to know that she too was worried about this very thing. But they had years together in a squad car and on a beat - they knew that whatever would happen... They'd be there for each other. Always got each other's back.

Then, just a couple days later in fact, the second of the trio of clutches was announced. Boldly, trumpeting dragons told of the hatching.

"Well, here we go..." Norm said. He took Abby's elbow and escorted her as though they were at the prom. It was a horrid day out, well, it was raining and thundering, but it wasn't all that cold. Summer was right around the corner.

"What's weird about this one," Abby said as they entered the hatching sands again - both with their hearts in their throats, she was obviously talking just to stop herself from screaming, "is that the green up there, the pale one? She's the bronze sire's mate."

"But if they're mates, then-" Norm commented, "well, I guess anything that works, right?" He saw the golden mother of this batch of eggs give a beautifully wistful look at the pair of bronze and sunlit green. Dragons could fall in love. Terrific.

The hatching did commence quickly. A light red, probably a first at Ryslen considering the cheering, hatched and bonded off. A beautiful red hatched next, to a young man with a green flitter.

("I'd like one of those, too," Abby whispered to Norman as they watched the green get all uppity about the new red bond.)

A pretty brown came out, and Norman heard betting going on - were they all to be male eggs? When's the first female going to hatch? How many girls will bond male dragons?

Another red (where were these reds all coming from? The gold and bronze parents certainly didn't seem to have that kind of coloration!) broke out and started trying to hide himself in the red sands, but then bonded off to what appeared to be a spy in training.

A cream - female - finally came out of her shell and bonded to a girl who... had wings? Sort of.

Then, two eggs bumped against one another and shattered. The pair of dragonets that exited the shells were blue and silver, strangely familiar colors. They glanced at one another, as though collecting their thoughts, and then boldly came to Abby and Norman.

The dragons sat before the pair of cops, and Norman spoke to the blue: "Ampararth," while Abby said, "and Betjanath."

To protect... And serve!

Abby and Norman helped their new little recruits off the sands, into the celebration hall. They were going to be unstoppable over Talon City with this pair.

Do you think we'll really be welcomed? Asked Ampararth.

"Of course you will be. In fact, I bet there will be a bunch of jealous guys on our squad."

"You bet there will-" Abby laughed, hugging Betjanath's neck and watching the hatchlings eyes change colors as she became saited with food. "I think we'll have to get a bigger budget for housing though."

Abby Red	Norman Katz
Dragon: Silver (f) Betjanath (protect)	Dragon: Blue Ampararth (service)
Sire - Vajrath	Sire - Vajrath
Dam - Nynaeveth	Dam - Nynaeveth
Hatched At RYSLEN 25th clutch	Hatched At RYSLEN 25th Clutch

NEXT!