Part 24: Shifting Time
For Raina Lynn, the time passed slowly. First a few days, then a week had gone, and there was still no word from Dracstan. She busied herself with gathering supplies for a long journey and honing her magical attacks. Her accuracy and strength with fire breath had grown since she first received her Ember Orb. It seemed so long ago some days. and she was always surprised to remember that her Shantel had been only the previous fall. This year's autumn was rapidly approaching, and the threat of the colder weather that would follow put her on edge. She often took long walks across the Refuge, trying to ease her restlessness.
Her walk on this day led her to the North Main Cabin, on the edge of the Desert Kai. The door swung open for her of its own accord, then latched securely after she entered. The cabin was quiet, to her relief. She could hear a slight scratching in the back room, the sound of a nib on parchment. She wandered behind the greeting counter, trying to keep her footsteps muted. The soft scribbling continued, so she peeked her head around the door frame.
Indyana was slouched over a book, fixed on it with a fierce intensity. Her auburn hair, etched with lines of fire in the candlelight, fell wild around her face and shoulders, and her pale blue eyes were glazed with concentration. Raina froze like a deer, not wanting to disturb the sorceress.
Indyana scribbled a few more lines before her brow furrowed slightly."It's all right, Raina Lynn. Come in."
The Red Terran cautiously approached the table, picking her way around stacks of books and papers. The back office was cluttered but not messy. Everything had been placed just so. Raina Lynn carefully moved a book onto the table before climbing into the chair across from Indyana. This chair was often occupied by Ramona, but the younger woman was nowhere to be seen.
Indyana made a few last notes, then finally set down her quill and looked up at Raina Lynn. "On another walk, I see. No word from Dracstan then." The woman fixed the younger dragon with a soft gaze. "He has been gone a while now."
Raina Lynn only nodded. Each day was longer, passed more slowly than the last. The mountains were always there in the distance, ever silent and watchful.
"Dracstan is a strong, young dragon. He is equipped to deal with the mountains. Perhaps he has simply found himself in need of more meditation."
Raina Lynn couldn't think of anything to say, so she rather blankly followed the grain of the table with her eyes. Time might as well be standing still. There was a period of silence, and the young Bishen could feel the human's eyes on her. She looked up and returned the gaze rather hesitantly. Indyana's eyes didn't reveal much; time and experience had taught her to hide her emotions and thoughts. Still, Raina Lynn thought the woman might be trying to tell her something. She was about to say as much when there was a loud snap. She and Indyana both turned to look out into the cabin lobby; a cloud of yellowish smoke was visible.
On her feet in a second, Indyana strode out to meet whatever had arrived. Raina Lynn slipped down from the chair and hurried to follow, her Ember Orb glowing a bit in readiness. When they exited the back room, then found themselves faced with a very large, colorful egg and a tiny satyr. He was holding a clipboard and glaring about expectantly.
"Lady Indyana? The Creature Refuge?" He fixed his glare on the towering sorceress, wagging the clipboard impatiently.
Indyana quickly took in the details and nodded. "Yes and yes again. Ferreus Caves?"
The satyr looked relieved to not have to explain himself. "Yeah. Sign here." He held up the minute clipboard.
Indyana approached, making her footsteps nearly silent, and gently plucked it from his hand with a thumb and finger. She held it close to her face and peered at it, frowning. "There were supposed to be two eggs. What happened to the other one?"
"Gone, right from under my nose. Destiny happens." He shifted on his hooves and his tiny, spade-tipped tail waved back and forth behind his head.
The clipboard was held a moment longer, a frown still on the Lady's lips. Then, Indyana brought a fingernail up to the clipboard and ever so slightly scratched at the thin paper. There was a very faint sizzling, and the nail left a blacked scrawl on the bottom of the paperwork. "Here you are, sir." She leaned over and offered the satyr the signature.
The red-furred man snatched it and then grimaced at the messy, charred scribble before tucking it under his arm. "A pleasure and a delight. Good bye, dear Lady."
With a tiny puff of smoke, he was gone.
Raina Lynn had watched the proceedings silently, only wrinkling her nose slightly at the unexpected odor of sulfur. Now, she leaned forward to inspect the egg. It was covered in odd, haphazard blotches of brilliant color and nearly as large as she was. The Bishen stretched out her muzzle, trying to get a feel for the egg. *Is it a dragon?* she finally asked.
"Yes, a Bunny Dragon, from the Ferreus Caves. I received a letter a year or two ago, requesting that I find suitable homes for a few eggs. This is the first I have heard from there since." Indyana leaned down to place a palm on the top of the monstrous egg. She closed her eyes for only a moment, then stared at the egg again, in thought. "I better call Ramona."
Just then, the door swung open, and the fire sorceress was there. She stepped into the cabin and put a hand on her hip, her eyes immediately finding the egg. "Thought you might be needing me." She answered the unspoken question casually.
Raina Lynn blinked, but Indyana didn't seem fazed. "Good. Keep an eye on him. I need to send out a few notices." She turned and went back to the room of paperwork, leaving the dragon and the young woman alone with the Bunny Dragon egg.
"Good afternoon, Raina." Ramona immediately went to the egg and laid a hand on it, much as Indyana had done moments before. She peered at it with interest. "My, isn't he going to be a giant when he gets older."
*He is ten times the size of a Bishel egg,* Raina agreed. She tried to act normal, but there was still some friction between them. It wasn't that she didn't like the sorceress... but knowing that Ramona would be here with Krisr when Raina was gone was both a relief and a source of irritation for the young dragon. She knew it was irrational, but she couldn't seem to shake the feeling that Ramona was taking her place. In a way, she was. But then again, in other ways, she never could. Raina Lynn came out of her thoughts to find Ramona's pale green eyes watching her. She shifted uncomfortably, well aware of the woman's telepathic ability.
Ramona's look softened a bit. "Sorry, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, Raina."
*No, it's my fault. I'm being silly about all this. I am the one who's leaving, after all.* Ducking her head, the Red peered at the floorboards, finding distraction in the natural curves and lines there.
Ramona considered her next statement carefully. "You never have asked, but you often wonder why I chose Krisr."
Raina Lynn looked up from the floor, ready to protest, but Ramona was staring up into thin air with a distant look that made the dragon pause. Sometimes, people just needed to say things aloud.
"Krisr is... so... earnest. Most people, they are constantly revising what to say, what to do, how to act, always concerned about how people will see them. But Krisr... for the most part, he says what he thinks, does what his first instincts tell him to do. And when he does pause, it isn't to worry about what other people think. He hides a lot from the world... even I don't know it all yet. But it isn't because it is in his nature to deceive. He just doesn't think about it at all. All those bad things never cross his waking mind.
"Most people, the first time they see me... they feel fear. They think I could be dangerous. And they are right. But Krisr didn't see any of that. The first time we met, Krisr looked at me and thought I was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. When our eyes met, I could see everything in his soul, and I think, for just a second, he could see everything in mine. And yet, he still loved me from that moment onward."
Ramona finally dropped her eyes down from the ceiling, settling them on Raina. Those eyes were filled with emotion, and for just a moment, Raina Lynn knew that everything would work out.
But then, there was an odd feeling. Not a sound... more like a shifting of the air. Ramona let out a frightened yell. "Indyana!"
The older sorceress charged out of the back room, red light crackling between her finger tips. Raina Lynn could only gape. Where a moment before had sat a large, heavy Bunny Dragon egg, there was now nothing. Not a sign it had ever been. It simply did not exist.
The fire died in Indyana's hands, but she blinked at the empty spot for a few moments. Then, she sighed and muttered, "This has bored deity written all over it." She turned and stalked to the back room, obviously to undo whatever notices she had been working on.
Ramona and Raina Lynn glanced at each other, each wondering if the other had seen anything. Both knew the other had not, but it was a natural reaction to having reality suddenly altered around them.
*What was that?* Raina Lynn finally asked.
Ramona regained her composure but still gazed at the place the egg had occupied. "Fate."
Background from Absolute Background Textures Archive. Bishel Dragon from Bishen Realm and copyright © 2002-2003 Rachel "Indy" Gratis. Bunny Dragon and Gehenian satyr from Ferreus Caves and copyright © 2005 Lindsay "Lilu" Buck. Text and graphics copyright © 2002-2007 Rachel "Indy" Gratis, all rights reserved, except where otherwise noted. Respect copyright, and do not take material from these pages.
Bunny Dragon egg has been transported to Maia Kariam from here. Before being delievered, it made a brief stop in the Shrivik Mountains.
Page Created: March 4, 2007
Last Updated: March 4, 2007