THE Hordes of Faerie beings led Miraldis and me toward a tunnel entrance. I should say they herded us along, for they were all about us in droves. Their tiny lights darted about and but for the presence of Valfrenn, they would have been overwhelming. Mist swirled about our feet, making the footing uncertain and several times, Miraldis and I bumped into each other to the merriment of the Faerie Folk. I finally asked Valfrenn if he would allow us to assume our flying forms as we could all go much faster that way. He considered for some time before allowing the request , and after the shape change we went along at a much faster pace.

Since we were travelling so fast, I could no longer take the time to properly see the fantastic formations of the tunnel that we followed and almost regretted the request I'd made. I noticed in passing that there seemed to be niches in the sides of the tunnel that held all manner of sparkling stones and other objects that I would have loved to examine. Perhaps on the way out there would be time. The passage was not straight, but seemed to wind around in a spiral and all the time went deeper into the mountain. The power of the mountain was intimidating to my human self, and I found that in bird form, it was becoming more and more crushing and finally I had to stop and change back to myself again. Valfrenn, to give him/her credit, allowed me to rest for a bit before urging us on once more.

I won't didn't want to dwell on the rest of that journey through the mountain. It was long......or seemed to be.....but, eventually we approached the end and all spilled out into a giant cave, lighted by several large globes all arranged about a sort of dias that held a large nest of sticks and mosses entertwined about outcroppings of rock that glinted in the light, making the whole thing very ethereal. A hush fell on all of us, and we looked in awe at the nest.....only edging closer slowly as Valfrenn beckonned from the edge of the dias.

In the nest were, at last, the Dragon's Eggs that we had been searching for for so long. There were four of them, each roughly the size of an ostrich egg, but there the similarity ended. The shells were a dark color but each had it's own hues in ever changing and flowing colors in a sort of marbelling effect. One had various shades of blues, one flowed from palest pink through all the shades of mauve to darkest red, one had all the greens, and the fourth had all the shades of greys and silvers, melding finally into tans and golds. Ohhhh ...... they were truly lovely , and I longed to reach out and touch them, but dared not under the watchful eyes of the Hordes of Faerie Folk. We all stood long, just looking at them until finally the silence was broken by a big sigh from Miraldis. I looked over at him to find tears running down his face, and realized that I had tears running down mine as well.

I looked toward Valfrenn to try to determine what he wanted us to do next and found him/her kneeling before the nest in reverence. I wondered how long the Hordes had been guarding this treasure and how many times he/she had come here to gaze on the wonder of the nest of eggs. I hated to interrupt his revery and tried to stand quietly, but wanted so much to have a closer look. I wondered what made the globes glow and wanted to have a look at them as well.

Eventually, Valfrenn rose and turned to Miraldis and me and motioned us closer. I reached out to touch them and thought that Valfrenn would object but he did not and to my surprise the eggs were warm. Warmer than even hen's eggs freshly laid !! In fact, they were quite hot and I jerked my hand away in shock. I had no idea they would be warm. There was no indication that there was anything in the nest that would keep them warm and the cavern was quite cool. The Hordes of Faerie lights were clustered about us and I realized that since we had entered the cavern, they had been for the most part silent; only now and then giving a faint rustle like a breeze through leaves. I looked at Valfrenn in silent question hoping that there would be some sort of instruction for the next step in the hatching of the eggs.

"The Next Things We Must Do," He said softly, "Is To Build The Pyre. It Must Needs Be Large Enough To Burn For The Proscribed Time And To That End, We Must Transfer The Necessary Materials Here. It Be Too Far To The Surface For Bringing By Physical Means, So Needs Must We Use The Magic."

The Hordes coalesced into one large ball of light and I realized that the globes glowing softly round us were made of Faerie Beings as well. Slowly the shimmer of magic was apparent around us and bit by bit, pieces of wood started to pile up in the middle of the cavern. Neither Miraldis nor I could help with this part, so we stood carefully to one side of the dias that held the nest and watched as the pile of leaves and sticks grew taller and taller. Soon the pyre had grown to take up almost half of the space in the cave and I wondered where we would go when the thing was set to fire. We would all die from the heat should we stay in the cave, not to mention smoke inhilation. Finally Valfrenn motioned that the pyre was big enough and beckoned us forward.

"It Be Time For The Talents Of Human And Dragon To Meld With Ours. Needs Must We Form A Circle About The Pyre, And Form These Individual Pieces Into A More Solid Whole."

WE gathered about the pyre and in a fashion held hands in a circle. Under the careful direction from Valfrenn we concentrated on making the huge pile of burnable material into an almost solid mound. About the half way mark, Valfrenn left the circle and motioned for me to follow him to the nest. I was to lift the eggs to the pyre and set them in a depression that had been formed in the exact center.

I looked at the eggs and wondered if it made any difference which one I took first. They were all so beautiful. The marbelling swirls made each an individual. I reached out to pick up the blue one, and found that the thing must weigh far more than I thought for I could not budge it from the nest. I turned to Valrenn for support and advice and found that he seemed as puzzled as I felt. Well, perhaps one of the others then; and tried for the red one next,with the same results. Had I come all this way for naught? Another try... this time with the green, and with a little difficulty I found that I could move it. I managed to roll it to the edge of the nest and there I left it and tried for the last egg. That one also refused to be moved. So ... there was an order that they should go in after all. Carefully, I maneuvered the green far enough to the edge so that it would tip into my arms. It was almost heavier than I could manage and I wondered if I could carry it as far as the pyre, but I did manage with Valfrenn by my side to steady me. When I got to the pyre, I found that the Hordes had managed to make a series of steps up the side and with some difficulty I got up them and deposited the first egg into the depression in the center.

This was going to take a little longer than I thought, for my knees were very wobbly on the way down the steps in the side of the pyre. I sat at the bottom to catch my breath and wished that I had kept up my weight exercises. If I'd known that I would be carrying dragon's eggs that weighed a ton, in the prescence of a Horde of Faerie folk, I might have made a better effort, but then, if anyone had mentioned that,I wouldn't have believed anyway. I realized that Valfrenn was hovering and so back to the nest again,and in due course, discovered that the order of eggs was green, blue, red and last metallic. By the time I finally got the last one into the depression and myself back to the floor of the cavern, I was exhausted and collapsed in a heap. Valfrenn hovered close by in concern and offered me a challice with some kind of liquid in it that seemed to bubble a bit. I was that tired that I didn't even question it but drank it down and to my surprise was immediately quite restored.

WE finished off the pyre quite quickly after that and then Valfrenn approached Miraldis. Apparently the next part of the process came under his jurisdiction. According to the ledgend as the Faerie Folk understood it, the eggs had to be moved by human hands and fired by dragon breath. They could neither touch the eggs themselves, nor generate the heat required and so had had to wait these long centuries until the time had been right and the people and creatures needed had aligned. Talk about being in the right place at the right time!!!! The firing of the pyre would take a whole day, and to this end, Miraldis would have to sustain his fire until the pyre had been reduced to ash. He would need rest and food and some time to himself to be ready for his part, and Valfrenn led us to another smaller cave where food and drink and a comfy little couch and bed of straw had been laid out. I had long ceased to marvel at all the preparations that seemed to appear at the right times. I did hope however, that I was not becoming blase about the whole thing and that I would be allowed to remember all the things that had been happening.

I took Valfenn aside and asked about Jeff. I didn't know just how long he had been left in the first cavern alone with the guards, but thought that if he was still alive he would not be in his correct state of mind. Not that he had been for some time , but none-the-less I didn't want him to suffer unduly. I was assured that he had been put into a kind of stasis state where he would be resting and believing that he was in the midst of a dream. When and if they decided to free him, he would only remember the things that had happened to him as a nightmare. That seemed very fair to me and I thanked Valfrenn for his consideration.

The meal was excellent and there was more of that bubbly liquid that was similar to a light berry wine without the after effects. This would be a big seller I was sure but knew that it would never see the light of day. During and after the meal the Faerie Hordes put on a wonderful light show and Valfrenn and Miraldis and I exchanged storied and ideas and generally explored each other's lives and cultures. At last, however, the cares and struggles of the day caught up and we were left alone to sleep until our sevices should be needed again. My internal clock had stopped working a long time ago and I had no idea if I had been in the mountain one day or a week. I wondered if there were search parties out on the trails, since I was so far overdue to sign back in at the Hotel, but fell asleep long before I could worry much about it all. I felt that I had to trust Valfrenn to get it all sorted out in the end.

THE next day, or at least what I took for the next day came, with the Fearie Folk gently tugging at my hair. Well that was their version of an alarm clock, and I had to smile. They brought food and drink and showed me an underground stream close by, where I could wash and tidy up.

Shortly after we gathered again in the large cavern and I wondered how a small dragon like Miraldis could generate enough fire to burn the pyre. Valfrenn led us to one side and indicated that Miraldis should blow his fire into a hole near the bottom of the pyre. He did, and very shortly, smoke began to come from holes near the top. I realized that the pyre was not, after all, a solid piece, but was honeycombed throughout with channels. The Faerie Folk and I again formed a circle around the pyre and Miraldis and in that way seemed to enhance his efforts. As fire started to come from the holes all around the pyre, the Folk fell silent and I could feel the anticipation growing. The being might be motes of light, but they certainly did have emotions and Valfrenn had a very interesting personality. I would have liked to talk with him at length, but knew that once we had accomplished the task set out for us, I would probably never see him again.

I lost track of time and seemed to fall into a kind of trance. Eventually, the whole pyre was burning and the cavern filled with the flickering light. I was surprised that the smoke had dissipated through the ceiling and Valfrenn explained that it escaped through cracks in the mountain in such a way that it could not be seen from outside. The Faerie magic kept the temperature in the cavern at a manageable degree, but even so I was very hot and uncomfortable, and wondered how long the pyre would burn.

It seemed like hours later, when the pyre , all of a sudden,started to fall in on itself and I feared that the eggs would be crushed. Instead, all that was left was a huge pile of ash. The Faerie Folk formed a sort of tornado effect that very efficiently moved the ash to one side exposing the eggs. Now they lay on the floor of the cavern and we gathered about waiting for the next thing to happen. I noticed that they had turned black and the marbelling was no longer visible. In fact, they were impossible to tell apart . Within minutes, however, the eggs began to move slightly and then a tapping could be heard. It seemd as though all in the cavern held their breath and in a short time, a little hole appeared in each egg and a tiny pointed nose appeared in the opening. With a little more tapping, the shells split and there in the midst of the egg shards and ash, we saw the Hatchlings for the first time.

A sigh went up like wind through pine trees and the Hordes of Faerie Lights pulsed brighter. The little dragon babies peered about at us and we looked back. They were the color of the eggs.....one emerald green, one ruby bright, one sky blue and the last shone silver and gold. Their tiny scales gave off glints of light like sparks when they moved and they turned their little heads about looking back at us from beady eyes. They oriented on Miraldis and wobbled on baby legs towards him. He seemed a little nervous of them and took a step back, but Valfrenn indicated that he should gather them in and he did put his paws down and they climbed into his arms.

THE next while was taken up with the ususal interest in any newborns. Miraldis positively glowed and, in fact the whole of the Faerie Horde did glow brighter. Valfrenn's ghostly figure shone and I must admit to having a big grin on my face as well. They were cute little things....barely a foot long from nose tip to tail tip. Their scales were the size of my baby finger nail and did glisten in the light. Their back feet were slightly webbed while the front ones were not, but had instead very long "fingers" and each had a small claw that no doubt would be formidable when they reached their full growth. They had little pointed snouts and when they yawned, we could see tiny sharp teeth. Their beady eyes looked too big for their heads and reminded me of those "Precious Moments" figurines. They looked wbout with interest and when they started squirming about, Miraldis set them down on the floor of the cave, afraid that they would fall. They spent the next bit wandering about under the watchful eye of the Faeries and I could see them growing stronger by the minute.

I wondered now, what would happen next and turned to find Valfrenn standing near-by. He looked gravely at me and motioned to Miraldis to join us a little distance from the rest.

"For The Moment, Your Tasks Have Been Completed. By Magical Means, We Shall Obtain Food For The Babies And See To Their Care. When They Have Reached The Proper Age, We Shall Call Upon You, Miraldis, To Help Us Train The Hatchlings In Magical Ways. It Will Be Your Task To Aquaint Them With The Outside World. You Must Return Here When Summoned To Teach Them The Shape Changing That Will Allow Them To Live In The Outside World And To Live Amongst The Creatures There."

He turned to me and looked into my face. "Your Tasks Have Been Completed As Well. You Have Upheld Our Belief That The Human Race Is Still Able To Use The Ancient Magics. You Will Always Be Able To See The Shape Changers, And As Our Gift To You, You Will Retain The Knowledge You Have Learned From Miraldis. Do You Treat It With Respect And Try To Use It In The Aid Of Others. Should We Have The Need Of Your Help, We Shall Call On You And You Will Be Honor Bound To Answer The Summons."

I nodded and bowed my head to him in acknowedgement of the great gift he had given me. I was overjoyed that I would be allowed to leave the mountain in one piece and to be able to remember and retain all that I had learned was more than I had hoped for. I felt a wrenching and dizzyness and the cavern dimmed. I reached out my hand for Miraldis and felt myself fall into the darkness.

Almost immediately, it seemed, I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the floor of the cave behind the waterfall. Dazed, I stood up and looked about trying to orient and found that I was not alone. Jeff was huddled in a ball a short distance away.There was a travel pack beside him that I did not remember from before. He did not look well at all but when I called his name he opened his eyes and looked about.

"Oh thank God someone finally found me."he said in a weak voice. "I had given up hoping someone would be hiking up here."

"What happened to you?" I asked cautiously.

"I thought I saw a cave back here behind the falls, and wanted to have a look, but when I jumped in I fell on a rock or something and have twisted my knee. I can't even stand on it let alone jump out again. How did you find me?"

"How long have you been in here?" I asked. Was this the same person who had followed me into the cavern in the hopes of finding and taking the treasure? Could the Faeries have wiped out all memory of what had happened? If they had this was a wonderful thing, for it would solve most of my problems of how to handle Jeff's accusations. I would be eternally gratefull to them if that was the case.

"I think I've been here about four days."he said. "I'd about given up hope of getting out. I kept yelling, but this part of the park isn't usually well travelled and I didn't think anyone would find me. I can't believe my luck. What brought you up this way?"

Thinking fast, I fell back on the original reason I had given for travelling in the park. "I do sketches and water colors and someone told me there was a big waterfall here, so I came up to have a look. I thought I heard someone shouting and came to see if there was anyone in trouble. I have a rope tied outside and my camp is not far away." I fervently hoped that was true. I had no idea how long I had been inside the mountain, but the Faerie folk seemed to have fixed things and maybe everything was as it had been before entering the cave.

"Do you think I could get out of here then? I can wait while you go for help. Another day or two won't matter now if you could leave a bit of food. "

"No... just give me a few minutes to fix something up to get you over to the cliff and I think we can manage." This would give me time alone to have a look at the camp and also get something to wrap his knee in.

I edged around the water and sure enough my rope was still attached to the rock. It took little time to climb over and return to the place I had pitched camp and everything was just as though I had left it minutes before. The sketch I had started was still on the easle and the paints still wet in their cups. They should have dried long since and again I marvelled at the ways of the Faerie Folk. I found some pieces of bark that I could fasten to Jeff's leg with stips of cloth from one of my shirts and went back to the falls. For some reason I thought the cliff was closer than it had been to the rock ledge and wondered again if this was magical. If so I was not about to complain for now I could see it would be no great task to get Jeff back to the camp. It was hard to believe this was the same person I had hated a few days ago. Had Valfrenn given him a change of character as well? I suddenly thought of how I had called his name when I came to and wondered if he would remember that. If he did not recognize me, there would be no reason that I would know his name. I would have to explore that when I got him out.

I was right..... jumping back to the cave was not nearly as long a jump as it had been the first time. With his leg in a crude splint and the rope and me on the other end it was possible , with a little effort and pain, for him to get over to the cliff and shortly we were back in my camp. He set about fixing the splint a little tighter for it had come loose during the walk and while he was doing that I set about making a tea just so I could keep busy.

" I have to apologize." he said "I haven't even introduced myself." Well, that answered the other question. After the introductions were over and he had had a look at my sketch pad and said he thought my work was lovely, we settled down to our tea. This was definitely NOT the same person at all and after some misgivings, I found I didn't mind his company. It was still hard not to see him as a huddled ball screaming in fright as the Faerie Hordes poked at him, and I had to keep reminding myself that Valfrenn had worked some great magic here.

A short time later, we heard voices and into the little clearing came the group of young folk that I had met on the way up the mountain in search of the falls. They stayed for some tea as well and afterwards, when I was clearing up and washing out the cups and pot, the same girl came to help and asked if I had found anything peculiar here. I told her "no" though it had taken some time to find the falls. I couldn't help wondering if she was another like me who had the power to see the magic and just didn't know it. They were on their way back to the lodge and I realized that only one day had passed and that if I got back to the hotel this day, I would not even be later than my original time to reprort in. The magic working again. They offered to help with Jeff and fashioned a sort of stretcher from a blanket and some tree limbs and we made our way back to the shuttle area.

After all the excitement, I was a little sorry that I couldn't talk about it to someone but I wanted a nice hot bath and a good meal and then I needed to get home. My life would return to normal ... how boring that would be. I thought that when I got back home I would start a small journal and try to do some sketches of the things I had seen and done. I wasn't sure yet what sort of time frame I was dealing with, but trusted that it would all work out so that the time I had spent on this quest, was not in reality, the time I had actually been away. I would also do my best to rent that same cottage on the lake every year and perhaps even buy it outright, so that I could be available should the Faerie Folk send their summons or if Miraldis should just happen to drop by for a chat and some lessons.

I couldn't help wondering how the Hatchlings would fare and whether I would see them again. Perhaps Miraldis would bring them for a visit in dragonfly form. I wondered what the Blue would think of them, and whether the baby Blue would have the same attitude as the one I had met at the lake had had. I had no idea what sort of personalities the other two babies might develop.I tried to imagine the dragonflies that the silver/gold and ruby dragons would make and thought that the four of them together and Miraldis would be a beautiful sight.The thought of them all flying over the lake in sparkling colors made a beautiful mind picture and I smiled as I settled back to enjoy the chatter of the youngsters and allow myself to be surrounded by normality once again.