What happened BEFORE?

"He's getting big, really quickly," Scam mentioned of the brown-winged bronze.

"He certainly is," Avatar said smugly. Kazatith looked up from his grassy relaxing spot, and furled his wings out. "And he knows it."

"I'd think he would be eating more," Scam said, "but he's on the same diet as Delpeth."

And I hope that it stays that way! Delpeth announced. He is going to be much bigger than me, you know. Bronzes are like that.

The irridescent brown nuzzled his bronze-brown friend, and they lounged in the sun. The day had been filled with mock fighting exersizes and flight moves to strengthen the young fliers wings. Soon enough Avatar would be riding the bronze-brown, and they would be headed off to Zekira to fight the menace there. Riding on their dragons! They did not need to do that, if they'd bonded a Zekiran dragon, but they wanted more action than just standing on the ground and watching!

***

Delpeth knew that it was time to go home to Zekira. Kazatith was now all grown up and truly bigger than any brown could be. He didn't always act like an arrogant bronze, though - he often lounged around waiting for instructions, or watching like an observant blue. The smaller shining brown Delpeth could tell that his younger bigger cousin would certainly wow them, at least according to Scam.

What's up, Del? Don't start feeling sorry for yourself now. We're about to head home and you can't start sulking. Scam thought to his dragon.

You wish I were bigger.

"What?!" Scam said, abruptly putting down his carry-case and attracting the attention of his cousin Avatar. "I do not! If you were, I'd never be able to work with you!"

Still a bit sulky, but encouraged by his rider's words, Delpeth rose to his hind legs and flapped his curved wings. It will be good to be out of here and on your lands.

Easily distracted, isn't he?

"Don't you start," Avatar grunted. "And I'm the one with land. He's still just a Slave."

Scam coughed, glancing at the other Zekiran with a narrowly unpleasant look.

"Okay, you're a Dragon Master. They can be Slaves too."

"She said she'd Free me," Scam said. His mother was good for her word, at any rate.

"Into Bayaran, or what?" Avatar asked. He was clearly flexing his 'rogue' status a bit too much now that they were headed home.

"It'd better not be into Bayaran. If I am, I'll start stealing and pay it off with someone else's hard earned cash. How's that? Do I fit in now?"

"Oooh, hissy fit." Avatar said. But he backed off when it seemed Scam wasn't really all that happy about his Status at home. True, Dragon Masters were needed and quite well off for their work. But they could in fact be Slaves or Bayaran to their superiors and still remain that way for all their years.

Scam wanted to come home free. He hoped things hadn't changed for his mother and her friends in their absence.

It was when Osh came in with his same outfit as he'd been wearing when they left Zekira that he knew he didn't have anything to worry about.

"Well, am I on time?" Osh asked, and his brown on the ledge snorted. Of course we are on time. I am always correct about when to come here. This is my birth place. "yeah yeah..."

Osh looked at the pair of new riders - their fantastic dragons! Both of them would be respected and certainly the Ryslen dragons on Zekira would not be suffering for their presence! Especially... Well, the gold!

"You'll have to tell me which of the clutches your boys came from," Osh said, climbing back onto his brown. "Now, don't stray. We're going to be landing at one of our dragon sites, so the area is prepared for you. Once you're there, we can arrange whatever else you need."

"Has ... has my mother worked up the papers?" Scam hazarded - and Osh nodded.

"Of course she did. She's not going to let herself be seen like Keenae is. I mean," Osh laughed as they jumped into the air, "she's crazy, she's not cruel. Not to her family anyway."

They followed the dark Wimkukith into the sky, circled to bid a very fond farewell to Ryslen, and vanished through the Nexus back to Zekira.

The pair of dragon masters met up at a spot that they both enjoyed, overlooking a superb ravine and waterfall. Only a few years after Scam's Freeing, and a dozen encounters with the dangerous alien ships had brought the pair quite close.

"What do you think about these boys getting a bit more of a workout?" Asked Avatar, thumbing up toward his dragon.

"They get plenty of exersize, Av," Scam replied. They'd both been injured, both healed up perfectly fine within weeks. Their dragons were heroic, and they were often heaped gifts from adoring fans.

Even Avatar had to admit he liked being in the spotlight now, once so well hidden. But he called no Land his permanent home still, he'd just fly out of nowhere and save the day. Joined often enough by local dragons, Avatar was learning quite a bit about how best to sense and control the less intelligent Zekiran dragons - but he wanted more out of everything.

Avatar was patient with Kazatith, who was somewhat more insistant on being if not the only dragon in his life, certainly the top of the bunch. And as a bronze-sized old-world type, he was in fact much bigger than most Zekiran Sky dragons. At least he could boast four legs and wings, to their two. He claimed it gave him an advantage - he could grasp things with his forepaws, where the Sky dragons merely spat at them.

Scam on the other hand had a durable, quick and sharp witted irridescent brown on his hands, one who had outwitted aliens and even other dragon masters recently. He was proud, strong, if not as large as the other Ryslenese.

"No, no I mean... you know, like flying," Avatar said, " I've been listening to the dragons, the ones from Ryslen, and they've said there is a flight out at another dragonry."

"Oooh," Scam grinned, "so you ... what, wait, you want our dragons to compete for a female?" He glanced at the large two-toned dragon, and back at the more sedate sized irridescent brown next to him. "You must be insane, Av, Kazatith would ruin any chance that Delpeth would fly a female."

"That's not true," Avatar said, and the dragons blandly looked on as their riders argued. They knew well enough that they'd both try their hardest - whoever won would be able to prize their offspring and be quite proud. Then next time most likely the other would do so. Whenever there was a next time, and they'd be looking of course.

"So who is the lucky victim, er, female?" Asked Scam as they prepared to fly.

Avatar unrolled a paper, on which the instructions to the Ring of Fire had been drawn. "Her name's... Tsukihikaruth, she's gorgeous, don't you think?"

"She's ...yeah, she is," Scam said looking around his cousin's shoulder. "So, Delpeth, Kazatith, you guys ready for this?"

Of course we are, said Delpeth.

I am, I have been ready for quite some time, announced Kazatith.

"Then off we go, to the Ring of Fire." Avatar folded the instruction sheet back into his flight jacket pocket, and they headed off Zekira.