Star Song
By Tiger

                            XI

WyldeFyre could not believe her ears at the suggestion
Draco made as he got her and Hunter alone...That...was
a very interesting...idea. She and Hunter talked about
it...An agreement was made to do the flight on the
next full moon...under two interesting conditions...
One... Hunter had to refrain from teasing the Dragons
and two... Draco couldn't watch! She was unsure about
a Dragon ride, but finally said yes, after Draconess
flew her around for a while. Her head spinning, she
landed on the ground smiling. "That was fun!" she
grinned. "Told ya!" Hunter retorted with a wicked
laugh... "Children" the BeastMaster laughed along with
Lady Raven. At dawn battle practice resumed and
WyldeFyre asked to be included in Lady Raven's herbal
healing classes. She was kept very busy from sunup to
sundown. The full moon was two weeks away.  Hunter
kept a close eye on his beloved... watching for signs
that she was going back into soul shock. He watched
her as she talked with Draconess and Lady Raven.
Draconess made a suggestion that Lady Raven, Lady
Loreli, and StarFlight agreed to... But WyldeFyre
again was unsure... Her training stated that dragons
were special and to be respected... but healing by
Dragon's blood? That would bond her to the dragons
wouldnt it? As they talked WyldeFyre lost the
hesitantcy that she had before when it was explained
to her just how it would be used. Hunter agreed
readily to the idea as did Draco, StarSworn,
BeastMaster and Strong Heart. After WyldeFyre had gone
into the solar with the ladies of the castle...Hunter
spoke at length with the others about WyldeFyre...
They agreed that she was making progress, but like
him, they were concerned about the damage that could
have been done. "I do not think that she will have
this happen again" The StarSworn spoke..."The threat
has been removed, and I have taught her and can vouch
for the fact that her shielding is stronger than it
ever has been." "But" The BeastMaster spoke
sagely..."Twill take a drop of blood from a Dragon to
seal the healing... She is still healing from the
destruction of her clan as well. These things take
time and had not HamRa been so devious and
underhanded, things would not have turned out this
way. Thanks be to the Eternal that both Hunter and
StarSworn were there to pull her out, before she was
seriously injured in such a way as to leave her
completely helpless." Nods of agreement.

                            XII

Hunter was full of mischief and merry making. He had
been teasing WyldeFyre about her Dragon ride, and she
teased him right back. The castle's atmosphere was
jovial. She finally dumped a glass of mead on his 
head to get him to be silent. The room exploded in
laughter. He just smiled that wicked smile she knew so
well and she knew she was toast! That smile warmed her
down to her toes. She deeply enjoyed being with him.
However the morning brought a summons of all the
Warriors... A grand Council was being held...So
practices were suspended for the duration. WyldeFyre
Felt something not quite right, and her hunch was
confirmed on the faces of the Warriors. The Hawk and
The Celestial were on their way to the Castle also.
WyldeFyre knew something was very wrong when she heard
the news of the other Warriors returning home... This
should be a time of gladness, not concern.. She spoke
to Lady Raven about her feelings, and was relieved to
know that this wasn't just a phantom feeling. There
had been trouble to the West of the Castle. She would
be going into combat again. The summons came again for
ALL warriors. She hurriedly got into formation, her
stomach sinking... Half were left at the Castle to
guard the trainees the other half were going out.. and
she was going out with them. The fighting exploded
around them a half days march away from the Castle.
Her world faded until it was just her and her
opponent.She heard the yell of "Kill the Triad!".. She
was stunned.. no one was supposed to know.. Damn
HamRa..He had been behind this, even in death. She
fought like a caged pretara...Damn the Vasha. She drew
only upon her training as a Fire Warrior, not the
combination after that yell. A Vision glimpse told her
the raw truth and her heart broke...After the skirmish
was over... she demanded to see the Grand Council. She
told them what she had Seen.And sadly left the camp..
heading straight for a trap that was meant for her.
Sharan materialized in front of her, giving her one
last training...before she went into the trap. She
prayed that would be enough to spare her bondmate any
more agony.. She thought about the promised Dragon
Ride, and other things they had talked about.. and
fell into the trap. The drugged needle worked quickly.
When she awoke, there were hostile eyes and the
torture began. She knew if they accessed her empathic
side it would mean death to her bondmate. Finally she
could not make a sound, but her mind worked at fever
pace. She would not let them break her. She would die
first, but in a way that she could be revived, but not
by the Vasha. She invoked the Va'ra and felt herself
beginning to fall into darkness. The Hunter's eyes
glowed dangerously green as he watched his mate fall,
feeling the cloaking of the Va'ra kick in. They all
knew why she had done this. At a war cry.. the Vasha
whirled around but he and his fellows were quickly
routed. Justice had been served, but at what cost?
WyldeFyre was moved quickly back to the Castle, as her
injuries would allow. Lady Raven and the others waited
and upon her arrival, began working on her. Suddenly a
massive head poked through the door...Draco!. With a
quick move of his talon... one drop of blood appeared,
and splashed down on her. The wounds began to close on
their own! Days later, she woke up feeling like she
had been sliced with a trazor blade. She was alive!
"Hunter" she whispered....Lady Raven ran and fetched
him. He held to her and would not be budged. Finally
they got him to rest... She would make it... She was
finally out of the danger zone!

                           XIII

She listened to the soft sounds of music and talk
coming from the Great Hall. She was being allowed to
leave her bed and finally return to normal life at the
Castle. She entered quietly, and found a seat next to
one of Lady Raven's apprentices. Hunter Felt her there
and went and gently pulled her to her feet and taking
her outside. Hunter looked at his beloved, then spoke
quietly to her. "I came so damned close to losing you
this time...I can't just let you go... not that you
are asking me to. But don't ask...I nearly died
watching you go through that, even though you had the
bond protected. Your reasons were sound, but it damned
near killed me to let you play decoy like that.
Promise me that you will not do that again. And
promise me you'll stay around for me to love and
protect..." " I promise you that..."She said
softly..."I know how near I came even with the help of
the Va'ra.... I don't like putting you in danger or in
pain either beloved. But this time, there wasn't a
choice in the matter... It was go or be captured and
twisted... and then the Vasha would have had access to
you and the rest...I just could not risk that. Forgive
me?" Without words, he put his arms around her and
empathically send a deep wave of forgiveness down
their link... "Besides" she chuckled... "You owe me a
Dragon Ride!" Hunter's rich laughter flowed down the
hall..."And a Dragon Ride, you..my dearest.. shall
have!" The wave of Love she send down the bond, made
his heart sing... even after all the hell she had gone
through, she still was his, and she still made his
heart sing. And she was still in one piece! Finally
she sought out Draco... and thanked him humbly for his
gift of life. He smiled at her, and waved her back to
Hunter's side.

                            XIV

They walked in the outside garden maze before retiring
for the night. The smell of night blooming roses and
other flowers made WyldeFyre appreciate everything so
much more. He stopped her and sat her down... He
gently handed her a special night blooming Rose that
he had asked Lady Raven to grow while WyldeFyre was
recovering from the war with the Vasha. Tears of joy
streamed down her face, as she recongnized it for what
it was. She accepted his gift and gave him one of her
own. His exclamation of delight warmed her heart even
more. Draco and Draconess were watching them closely.
Suddenly two dragons shot through the night lighting
up the night sky like arcane fireworks. The
BeastMaster and his lady Raven were close by, as were
StarSworn and StarFlight, Strong Heart and Lady
Loreli... That had been concerned that the love match
would not make it past the stresses of the war... They
were all glad to be proven wrong. They both sat and
watched the fireworks, snuggled closely together.
Finally, life was back to normal...there had been
quite a few changes since the war with the Vasha, but
all for the better. Morning came and the sun gently
poked its head into the window...waking WyldeFyre up.
A strong arm gently pulled her back down. She just
smiled and gave in gracefully. Later that morning,
they both put in an appearance to the teasing of the
rest. WyldeFyre just blushed crimson at some of the
comments, but gave back as good as she got!.

                             XV

She turned to see Hunter coming up the hill, a
complaining trainee in tow... She groaned... All the
Warrior trainees knew about Hunter's jokes. He had
become legendary in his joking....When she saw what
was wrong... she couldn't help but laugh.... Dreden
had pulled the same stunt that Hunter did, but got
burned much worse and been bitten to boot! "I take it
he offended Draconess this time?" was her mild
question to Hunter. "She told me to bring him to you
and give him a little lesson in manners to Dragons!"
Her eyes twinkled and she replied demurely..."I can
take care of that!" Hunter went back down the path,
his heart light as a feather. "Dreden.... You know
better..." she scolded... "Hunter doesn't even get
away with that very much....Let me tell you about
Dragons and respect." So saying she healed Dreden's
very burned rear end as she gave him a lesson in
Draconic manners. Goddess, he reminded her so damned
much of Hunter, that it wasn't funny! She reminded him
also that it was VERY unwise to mock a dragon, or
attempt to humiliate one, even jokingly. "You are just
lucky she didnt burn you to a crisp!.... Now YOU have
to face Draco!" He groaned, but she stood
firm..."MARCH!" she barked like an experienced 
trainer. She marched him right up to Draco, and made
certain he apologized. After she let the miscreant go,
she turned to Draco. "One of these days I'm afraid one
of Hunter's trainees or the others will step over  the
line and really get hurt... trying to imitate Hunter."
Draco laughed... "Have you noticed that Hunter has
kept his word about the remarks?" he queiried her
mildly. "Aye, that I have... But we both know that if
he teases you two.. he does it out of sight of the
trainess as well." "The Full Moon will be in two
days...I will see you both then!" so saying Draco went
to find Draconess. Lady Raven just chuckled at the
look of surprise on WyldeFyre's face. "You look like
someone hit you on the back of the head with a
board!.. Did you think that Draco wouldn't keep his
word... Well done on putting the youngster in his
place... I can see what you mean about Hunter and the
trainees." "I can't thank you  and the others enough
for what you have done, not only for me, but for
Hunter as well." "Put no thought to it... by the by...
Hunter has grown a suddenly mischievious face, after
he left the two of you." WyldeFyre just laughed.. a
full rich laugh. "Seems the Hunter be hunting his
Lady...with a mind full of mischief!" Raven continued.
"Then I best distract him... before he comes back with
a burned behind again. Thank the Goddess, he hasn't
been bitten, just singed!" She heard a yelp then
cursing... "Tis a bit late for that methinks..."
Hunter got singed again...."You didn't..." WyldeFyre
asked...."Not this time... saved a kid from being
fried though. One of Draco's trainees got a little too
smart for his own good and mouthed off at Draco about
you of all things.." Goddess bless..."I take it that
Draco is handling him. " the yowl of pain told her all
she needed to know...She just grinned and wishing Lady
Raven a good eve... followed Hunter out to the garden.