Part 12: A Time of Choices

Krisr and Raina Lynn felt no need to leave Bishen Realm right away, since they really had no plans as to where they were going. Therefore, they were still around when things started getting interesting.

"You can not give him an egg!" Indyana thundered at Tr'ynka Valae, who simply hissed at her. Krisr and Raina were seated in a corner of the cabin, trying to pretend they were not present.

*He is powerful. He will teach her well.* Tr'ynka Valae said.

"He is evil," Indyana cried. "The reason your children are dying is from evil. How can you hand them over to the same?"

*He is not completely evil,* Tr'ynka Valae murmured, exhaling through his fangs. *He possesses a soul, something that true evil does not. He has passed tests that have shown his virtue. You saw the same thing in the orb as I did.*

Indyana gritted her teeth and hissed, turning to pace towards the fireplace. She stopped in front of the fire, staring down at the eggs. Krisr could tell she didn't like this one bit, but the final decision was Tr'ynka Valae's, not hers.

"If you are certain..." She said, finally.

*I am.*

"Very well." With that, she leaned down over the eggs and looked to Tr'ynka Valae for guidance.

*Ker'kyna will do well with him,* he projected. Indyana reached down and picked up one of the female eggs. Taking a deep breath, she walked purposefully to the door and left with Tr'ynka Valae. After they had gone, Krisr and Raina looked at each other.

*'Not completely evil'?* Raina asked, raising an eyeridge. *He looked pretty darn evil to me...*

I don't like the sound of that... Krisr observed.

Indyana had already been quite angry before this conflict with Tr'ynka Valae. In addition to Ramona getting bitten by Irtira before Raina's Shantel, two days after the Shantel had taken place, some common thieves had somehow managed to get onto the Refuge, escape the Guardians, and steal one of the eggs from Bishen Realm. Indyana had not been able to figure out how they had penetrated the canyon defenses and duped the Guardians. Months ago, another dragon had been kidnapped from the Refuge, and she had still not yet been recovered. All in all, the tension was building.

Tr'ynka Valae had, of course, taken off in furious pursuit of those who had stolen the egg. By the time he located the egg and those responsible, however, he found that the egg's inhabitant, Carcassi, had already chosen a would-be rescuer. Amused, Tr'ynka Valae had allowed a siren to rescue Carcassi from the pirates and take the egg with her. After she had left, he summarily dealt with the pirates in his own way, and freed the rest of the creatures they had been poaching. He had returned to Bishen Realm yesterday, only a day before the first candidate had appeared.

Krisr had not seen this candidate, and from the sound of it, he didn't want to. Raina had been outside practicing lighting a fire when he arrived, and from her description, the man was a horrible, evil being. She had been so frightened that she had come bolting to the cabin at once and remained in the corner with Krisr since.

Across the table, Raina shuddered and Krisr reached out a hand to stroke her back reassuringly.

*It's all right,* she said bravely. *I think he is leaving.*

"Hopefully, no more like him will ever come here again," Krisr said.

* * * * * * *

Later, Krisr knew how wrong he had been. After the evil man, there had been a dangerous-looking boy who had received the next egg. Tr'ynka Valae had been greatly amused by the boy. Indyana, on the other hand, had once again, disagreed with his choice.

"You can't keep giving your eggs to people like that," she said to Tr'ynka Valae. "They will all grow up twisted!"

Tr'ynka Valae gave her a superior look. *As though you would know what is best for the eggs of my clan.*

Indyana growled. "I know more than you about bondmates, that's for sure."

Tr'ynka Valae hissed. *My clan will take no bondmates.*

Indyana just shook her head and sighed. "Listen, I demand that you find a more suitable caretaker for the next dragon."

*Demand, do you?* Tr'ynka Valae growled, narrowing his eyes and thrashing his tail.

"Yes." Indyana growled in return, giving him a cold glare.

*Very well,* Tr'ynka Valae said, and left the cabin laughing to himself. After he had gone, Indyana snarled and threw herself into a chair at the main table.

"Why do I even bother...?" She asked no one in particular.

"Because you're Indyana, and that's what you do," Krisr replied, shrugging. Indyana sighed.

"Yes, that would be correct," she admitted.

At that moment, there was a commotion from outside. Voices were yelling and screaming 'the dragon!' 'run for you lives!' Indyana's head snapped up and she stared at the closed door for a moment.

"Raina Lynn, where is your Ember Orb?"

Raina gasped and ducked her head. *I was so frightened the other day that I left it on the log bench near where I was practicing...*

Indyana muttered something in another language and jumped towards the door. Krisr and Raina Lynn followed and stood next to Indyana, staring at the spectacle before them. Several of the Bishen Realm workers were running around, ducking into cabins and behind the fountain. Meanwhile, Irtira sat with Raina Lynn's Ember Orb, gleefully shooting flames at any humanoid within range. The little wyrm let out a tiny war cry and seemed to be laughing.

*IRTIRA!* A voice roared, and Tr'ynka Valae landed next to her with a snarl. *Our clan does not use magical objects! We harness our own powers.*

Irtira guiltily gave up the Ember Orb and fluttered into the air to perch in a nearby tree. Tr'ynka Valae snatched up the orb and stalked over to Raina Lynn.

*You should take better care of this, young one,* he growled. Raina Lynn took the orb and slunk back into the cabin, feeling embarrassed, and Krisr followed. Indyana, meanwhile, was staring out into the Centre at the scorch marks and the frightened workers with an odd look of shock on her face. After a moment, however, she began laughing. Tr'ynka Valae looked up at her sharply. *What are you laughing at?* He demanded, but one could see the beginnings of a grin pulling at his lips.

Indyana just shook her head, laughing too hard to answer. With a wave of her hand, the scorching and residual flames disappeared, and she turned and went into the cabin. Inside, Krisr took one look at her and started laughing too.

*What is so funny?* Raina asked glumly. Krisr kept laughing and brought his hands up to represent talons.

"Roar." He growled. "Oh no!" He then cried in a falsetto voice, throwing his arms up in panic and switching roles. "It's the angry mini-dragon! Run for your lives! Run from the angry wyrm! Eeek!" Then, he dissolved into laughing again. At this point, even Tr'ynka Valae chuckled. Raina Lynn was still feeling guilty about leaving her Ember Orb out, but she had to admit the picture was funny.

*What's going on?* Jarod asked, coming into the cabin and seeing everyone laughing. *What happened out there?*

Everyone was took busy laughing to bother explaining, and Raina Lynn smiled at the confused look on poor Jarod's face.

* * * * * * *

A few days later, Tr'ynka Valae came soaring back into the Realm and immediately sought out Indyana, who happened to once again be in the main cabin at Bishen Realm with Krisr and Raina. The two ladies had been listening to Krisr's latest song, a humorous composition involving fierce fire-breathing baby dragons, with little pointy fangs.

*I have found a proper candidate,* Tr'ynka Valae announced to them.

"Truly?" Indyana asked, looking suspicious.

*Indeed,* the dragon said. *She is a slave girl, who escaped from her captors by diving off a cliff. Needless to say, she is a bit incapacitated at the moment, but her wounds seem to be healing, and I believe you will approve.*

Indyana looked thoughtful, and Krisr turned to Raina.

Slave girl... sounds better than the devil-child who took Syl'Onora, he thought to her.

*Ah, but what if she's an evil slave girl...?* Raina teased.

Ah, yes, have to watch out for those enslaved minions of Lucifer, Krisr said, enjoying the banter. Indyana was giving him one of her exasperated looks.

"Hey, I wasn't saying it aloud," Krisr protested, offended that, once again, his thoughts were being listened to.

"Did I say anything?" Indyana asked innocently, but Krisr could see she was hiding a smile. "Anyways, I must meet this girl."

*We will bring her Irtira,* Tr'ynka Valae said, lifting the wyrm in his talons.

Indyana raised an eyebrow. "Have you forgotten what she did to my niece?"

*This will be different,* Tr'ynka Valae assured her. Indyana shrugged, then wished the rest of the room a good day before following Tr'ynka Valae out of the room.

Ramona, who had been sitting on the floor under the table, poked out her head.

*Only one left now,* she observed. True, the only dragon left from the clutch was Eidea'col.

* * * * * * *

They need not have feared for the remaining egg. The next morning, bright an early, a convoy arrived. It was a person of regal import, complete with a procession of servants. Most of the Realm inhabitants peered at the sight in awe, including Krisr and Raina Lynn.

*I hear she's an empress of some sort...* Raina thought to Krisr quietly. He stared at the being and shivered.

She looks... cold, he thought, wincing. Do you think Eidea'col will be given to her?

Raina Lynn nodded. *I am certain of it.* Krisr sighed.

I'm going to miss those little demons... even Irtira.

*Me too...* Raina Lynn projected.

With a nod from Tr'ynka Valae, the last egg of the Hirgyae Clan left Bishen Realm. Krisr and Raina Lynn watched the procession leave, wondering at the future of those eggs... and a little about their own future as well.