Sean twiddled her thumbs, and thought about her life so far. She'd been a lot of places, really. She'd seen many things. But nothing like what she saw in her mind now.

Considering how her memories started out - she'd gone a long way since then. She could hardly believe that she once thought she'd only ever amount to a dragon healer. Now look at her.

The Kshau Protectorate's little move from the old world to the place called Alskyr almost caught her off guard. But she could hear dragons thoughts - and she knew something was about to happen. She prepared with Ajandeykth and then one day, abruptly, the place she'd been living wasn't where it used to be.

The sky was brighter, with no looming threat of a great seething red eyesore going through the air any more. The air was very crisp, sea-air. But while the Protectorate flipped through space and time, in the Nexus between worlds, Sean had seen something odd. Something which made her change.

Everything about her changed, in that Nexus moment. She caught a glimpse of her mother, who was not as she supposed, a frail old woman - but instead this was a woman of power, pride, and beauty. And - she was a rabbit.

Apparently, so was her father, but no one knew that. And still, back on the old world, no one would. Nor would they know that nearly a third of the Kshau riders and their kin had somehow gained fur, tails, feathers, horns... Where had these features come from? Why?

Ajandeykth looked on, curiously, as her rider flittered from one idea to the next.

There was a steady sound of her softly padded feet across wooden floor, as she paced.

"But if we were this way, why didn't anyone know? If we weren't, why these shapes? Hmn. And who can I ask? Everyone seems to think they're just fine the way they are. I like this," she examined her furry skin, brilliant white hair and red tipped ears. "A lot. But it's just weird."

Perhaps it is just the way you ought to have been all along. Like that Shard fellow - he's blue. No one cares, but he is. His dragon Jeremoth told me that he was quite nervous about whether people would still like him even though he was blue. I think he's fine.

"I bet you do. And no, you and Jeremoth are not going to have a flight. Are you?" Sean sternly looked at the white and marked dragon.

No. Not yet. He is still rather taken with that green. It's all right. I have had my mates. I will have others. As will you.

At that, Sean blushed. But she continued to pace. "And I can feel something more about me, can you sense it?"

That you are meant for more than just healing? Yes, I can. It is a strong force in you. A force to attack, as well as defend. That is a good balance. She nodded, and looked out over her ledge. Do you want to stay here? I like it here, but you are restless. There are things you want to do.

"You know I do, I love it here. Mama Tani's cliffs are great for roosting. But..." Sean glanced at the sea from the dragon's ledge. "But there is more out there. And not on this world. It's somewhere else, where I need to be just now."

Then let us ride. I can take you where you want to be, remember? Even though I am not large, I am still your closest friend. And I can fly strongly. For hours or days. She stood up and opened her wings, fanning them to get herself ready for flight.

"Oh Aja..." Sean said. The mating flights she'd been in were quite fabulous, and it was true, Ajandeykth could go for hours! Her solid wings were quite sturdy and her small frame could handle long stints in the air. But this was to be different - the Nexus was a deeply cold and infinitely large place. "Let me get some things. I might need them."

***

When Sean had packed up a pair of travel bags with healing supplies, some clothing, and a few reminders of her life, she took a good look at the sky, sea and sun. On a thought, she scribbled a number on the wall beside the ledge: 23.

Why that number? Why not just 1?

"Because, that's the number of dragons that I've ... lost." Sean drew herself up, "no more. Not one more."

Ajandeykth felt the pride and the strength from her bond, and echoed it. We will fly into the Nexus, and come out where you want to be. I know we will do it right.

"Okay. Let's go, then." Sean said. She concentrated on that number, the crumble of the stone around the edge of their ledge, and the smell of the ocean. Then, blinking her huge green eyes, Sean mounted up and they took off.

The shimmer of sunlight over the ocean was dazzling, but was shortly replaced by the blackness of the Nexus. Since Sean was sensitive to such things, she could feel the minds and souls of many dragons and their riders. Drifting forever - these souls would never inhabit bodies again, some of them wanted to.

Some of them had been banished, some were injured beyond repair, and precious few of them grew old and passed on without a fuss. Very few of those. All of them seemed quite interested in Sean and her dragon. They felt a flight of dead dragons and riders, pressing around them.

That is an odd little dragon there. I have never seen its like.

It seems colorful. Why is it more than one color like that?

I think it is deformed. Look how small it is!

Oh shut up you. They are travelers. And they're going to be offended!

"We're not offended, it's nothing we haven't heard before," Sean said, oddly able to speak almost properly while in the Nexus. "I am looking for a place to ..."

You are looking for yourself, I think.

"Yes, that's it..." Sean was mystefied. This small pale blue seemed to know her thoughts. But then again, she knew many dragons thoughts, so they were even.

Then stop here for a minute, and you might find something of interest...

***

They flew over a half-barren landscape, after exiting the Nexus. It was a parched, arid land. There were trees, but they were tall and used to little water. Their tops fanned out and provided a bit of shelter from the bright sun. Off in the distance was a smallish gathering of huts and a larger brick and stone building. It didn't look much like anyone was there, when they flew over once.

Then, as they came around for another closer look, a blast of flame erupted from ...

"That - person just shot something at us!" Sean yelled, as though Ajandeykth wasn't aware of that fact herself. The dragon sharply turned, and Sean realized that she was very quick in the air. Almost enough to snap her neck.

That person is also a rabbit, like you! Ajandeykth bespoke, without astonishment or fear. Once she sees you, I think it will be all right.

"Then ... take us down, but outside their reach. I don't want to be burnt alive." Sean said. They came to a stall over a large stone formation, which Sean landed upon dismounting, and then she carefully lept to the ground below. Several people came running at her, from the village.

Sean wisely put her hands into the air, barely away from her huge mop of bright hair. When the group of people neared, she saw that indeed, they were all like herself: upright, big-haired rabbit folk.

Had she come home? Or was this just some strange trick?

The people there were just as stunned to see her. Wide-eyed, and approaching with caution, they came to within a few yards, and put their weapons down.

"You have a dragon," said one, the bushy-haired grisley-grey female, "we thought you were attacking us. I'm sorry I shot at you..."

There was a strange tone in her voice, when she added, "Sean Akegata, bringer of the dawn... you have come back to us." The woman lowered her head, and the others did likewise.

Sean blinked, wondering ... wondering how in the world they knew her name, and what was this dawn stuff about? She found herself waving her hand at them, "please don't do that... Why are you doing that?"

"Our land has been ravaged," said one tall lanky girl with black feet and hands, and her nose was similarly dark. "It's the demons - they seem to love killing our crops, our men..."

Just about then, Sean realized that not one of the people around her were male - every one of them was a female. One was extremely old, many were about middle aged, but had the look of weariness about them. Only a few were very young - they kept coming from the village buildings. All in all, around twenty or so young and old women arrived to see their 'savior'.

Sean was numb. This was where she wanted to be?

It is where you were needed, came a ghostly voice from the Nexus. Sean shot a glance vaguely up and to the right, where she almost felt the dragon's spirit floating.

"... Demons?" Sean finally caught up with the conversation. Several people tried to answer, but Sean waved her hands and looked back to the gristled older woman. "Could you and I please have a talk? I'm ... not really sure about why I'm here, but I will do what I can. I'm a healer after all."

That brought some strange looks and even a gasp or two from the group. Sean paused, but the older woman led her around to the far side of Ajandeykth's landing rock.

"Sean - that is your name, is it not?" She asked. Sean nodded, "good. There have been prophesies of your arrival for generations, and we were begining to lose hope that you'd come."

"But..." Sean started to say, and then Aja decided to butt in. You and I have traveled through time and infinite space, Sean. It is possible that we will tell them in the past, to expect us in the future.

Sean turned and looked at the striped-nose of her dragon. "You amaze me sometimes," she whispered and blue Aja a kiss. Then she turned her attention on the woman.

***

"So, if we get rid of the demons, we can try re-cultivating the crops. I mean," Sean looked at the dirt, "it's almost what I'd call a total loss. Why haven't you moved?"

"We were waiting for you," said someone. Sean grew gently embarrassed, but there was nothing she could do now. She was here and she would help.

"And your men are all pretty much fighting or captured..." Sean muttered, pacing around again like she had been in her den on Paniya. "Surely you know some kind of defenses, you've held out this long."

"We all have some kind of magic about us," said Haiiro, the older woman. "But you are meant to have the most. We ... did not know that you were a healer."

"I... I'm a healer by trade," she held up her hands. "But since the move from the old world, and my ... change," she glanced at herself, having explained briefly that all was not furry in her past, "I've been able to work healing directly, by concentrating on it. I can still sense people and dragons - and I guess animals or whatever."

It didn't seem like that would be enough. But Sean tried to maintain a cheerful, positive attitude. She was after all, the only one here who could really just up and leave.

But she wouldn't. Sean approached each member of their community (the adults, mostly) and asked them what their special talent for magic might be. They had a collection of pyrokinetics, some who could manipulate the air currents, one who had a bit of talent with plants, and some who could perform ritual spells that required words and motion.

Apparently that was the hard part, because learning which words were the right ones was hard to do - and quite expensive if one could even find a school. Their learning had come at quite a cost already. The demons would attack, take prisoners, and then leave carcasses or victims. If there was anything growing in the ground, they would char it into ash.

"I think the first thing to do is establish who is strongest in what field, and have them teach the others to use their power better." Sean said. By this time, four weeks into her stay, Sean had grown lean from a bit of hunger, and Aja was hunting farther away than she liked.

"I want to know these words and motions," Sean said. "Magic is hard to come by on my world, either of them. So I wonder if it'll be easier here."

Haiiro and her two close friends Nendai and Fuji would train Sean in their attack and defense spells. For another week or more of intense training, everyone began to come together. Their whole village was becoming stronger inside. The children were assigned the task of collecting food, under the watchful gaze of Ajandeykth who would protect them should danger come.

And danger did come. Three tall creatures with black skin and strange bones sticking out in odd places swooped down from the sky, and Sean swore she saw a blackness that resembled the Nexus around them when they did so. She barked out orders, this set of flame fighters let off a few blasts to make sure the demons knew they were spotted. That group of defensive mages laid out a net of shielding over the plots of land and their structures. Aja lay her broad wings flat over the children, they hadn't gotten the chance to come in under the protection spells.

Sean watched with a snarl on her face as the trio of demons dodged the worst of the blasts. But one of them was hit, and injured.

"Now," Sean said to her warriors. The six of them, including herself, let a barrage of power words come from their mouths and shattered the bones of one still in the air. It floated badly, tumbling down to the ground where it impacted with a dusty thud. The burnt one tried to collect him, but was chased off by another round of fire.

The third looked down on this with a great distaste visible on its face. It summoned its injured friend, and they left their third to die.

"And now we see what these things are really made of," Sean grimly said, as she approached the prone form of the black-skinned demonic creature.

***

It had come to only to find that it was surrounded by an unfriendly sisterhood. It confessed that it was merely playing in an area that they had been given by their lord. Their recreation was sanctioned by some king or other. These lands, they were meant to belong to a dead creature, one which hadn't stirred in generations.

"Hmn," Sean said, "kind of like how the prophesies of me coming here were generations ago."

It grunted before it died, trying to figure out why it had to be the one to get left in the dead lord's lands...

Sean paced. That night she determined to find out who this lord was, and who the king was who allowed his demonic watchdogs to play here. Somehow.

Maybe... maybe through the Nexus? Somehow she knew that it was a link. She remembered the dragons talking about a blue rider, T'shen, who could speak to the dead without being in the Nexus itself.

So if he could do it, and she was already hearing voices all her life, she thought ... why not?

She sat in a calm, relaxed pose. She tried to clear her mind of the voices, but there were still quite a few people around. When they had finally fallen asleep, she discovered that there were other, quieter voices here.

The voices of the dead. Soldiers, farmers, mages, kings. One king, she was interested in. One alone.The one whose lands this used to be, one who had some strange hesitation in his voice.

Sean closed her eyes, and thought she saw faces, as afterimages, dancing before her. There was only a flickering candle in the room with her, so she trusted her vision.

"Lord of these lands... I don't even know your name. But if you come near me, I can hear you better." She said. She wasn't sure if there was some formality she was forgetting, something that she ought to do to protect herself from spirits. But she had no such things, and she summoned him to her side anyway.

He appeared, tall and gaunt like the demons, but he had been handsome, and rather human. No long ears, no tail, and Sean doubted that his pale skin had ever sprouted fur. He had whisps of hair still on his head, and while she looked at him, he seemed to grow younger and fuller-fleshed. His grey-blue eyes danced over her, and his drawn face moved into a smile.

"You have come back," he said, "back to me at last. Are you teaching them yet?"

"How am I meant to teach these people anything? I don't even know their own spells!" Sean said, almost bursting into tears. It was like everyone - everyone! - expected her to be some kind of miracle worker. This man knew her, obviously she'd been to him - would go to him in her future... this past... It was so confusing.

He crouched, and Sean got the feeling that he really was there in the room with her. There was a chill, a very deep, bone-bending kind of cold, that came with him. The chill of almost one hundred years of death.

"Sean," he said, "you told me you would be able to help them."

"I did - we just fended off some demons, and I got the name of someone I'd like to ... well, someone I'd like to kill. I would give them a piece of my mind, but I don't think that would be enough."

"And if you kill this person, would the sisterhood there prosper?"

"... If someone else replaced him, they could be worse, you mean?" Sean asked, and the apparition nodded.

"But I have a better plan..." He said, and stood. "I will tell you where to go, and what you must find. If you bring me back to life, I will guarantee your sisterhood will prosper. They might even have some of their men back if they still live in the cities..."

Sean's markings puckered, as she furrowed her eyebrows. "... You want me to bring you back to life. Is that possible?"

He turned to look at her, and there was a bemused, almost soft expression on his gaunt face. "Sean, you almost did before. You will do this thing. I understand now, that you have not met me until this time. And when next, I will be the one who will require explanation."

He smiled - it was half terrifying, because he was still skeletal in form - but Sean understood at last. She got instructions, memorized them as only a dragon rider could do. She would go back into time, meet him again for the first time, gather the books and tools needed... Then come back here. It would leave him disappointed, but he knew that he would meet her again.

***

"I'm so never doing this again," Sean gasped, panting beside Ajandeykth. The dragon chuckled and folded her wing around her rider.

It is all right. You got everything. Now we must prepare to leave again.

Their mission had been successful, if a bit more dangerous than Sapadt had led her to believe. But then, in the hundred or so years he'd been dead, things had changed a bit. He sent her to a library first - one which was heavily guarded. She had to invent a kind of invisibility spell to protect herself there. She got a few books, then Sean got out of there. They were stashing these things in the future, but not the same location as the Sisterhood's village.

Then, a series of herbs and ointments had to be found. They were difficult, because Sean didn't know what any of them were, did, looked like or smelled of. But Sapadt's descriptions were adequate and she didn't make any mistakes. And lastly, a bunch of odd items like leather and bone, sinue, dried blood, that sort of thing.

It was a nasty business, this necromancy.

But Sean knew that there would be a point to it. Sapadt had assured her - he knew that it didn't seem like much, his word for it, but he would be indebted to her at least for this. He'd wanted revenge for so long, on the peoples who stole his land from him and turned it into a waste, that he would do anything to keep it now.

Sean clung on to Aja's neck and they flew back to their stash. She assembled it, and then brought it again, to the Sisterhood's village.

To them, only about a week had gone by. But what a week! They had continued to practice and work the soil more diligently now that they knew they would be hanging on to it. The sense of pride that came from defending their own territory made them stronger.

They had needed that strenght too. For another venture of three demons flew in.

But this time, the Sisterhood had some help of their own. Okay - it made two of the children faint dead away, and caused one adult to puke her guts out. But Sapadt wanted to prove that he was a friend and not just some crazy dead spirit.

So he reanimated the long-dead creatures that had been resting under the dusty soils of the village. There were warriors, this had been a battlefield more than once. They took the demons more by surprise than anything else. That left them open to the Sisterhood's attacks.

Sean was proud of them. And, she was afraid. What if she didn't do this ritual right?

Her fears drifted away, she could sense Sapadt's presense nearby. To anyone else it would have been unnerving, but she would rather have him near to tell her that she was messing up, before she ruined everything for him.

It was a dark night, the world they were on had two moons, but neither was visible this night. Sean's vision was sharp, though, and the trio of candles that she had burning nearby lit the scene well enough. There were two large piles of stuff, about as wide apart as outstretched arms could reach. Between them, sinue and leather, shards of bone, and the dusty scrapings of the blood of ... well, it was Sapadt's blood. He'd been murdered in a palace room not frequented by many. But that was so long ago. No one had bothered to really scrub up the place, so when Sean got there she found his bones, his sinue.

One of the sisters came near the door of the low roofed hut, gently tapped the door with her fuzzy foot. "We'll be outside, and... if anything happens to go wrong, we'll be here. It's okay."

"Thanks," Sean said. "Now, I don't think anyone's supposed to disturb me for this..."

"Don't worry. I don't think there are any volunteers." She chuckled and Sean heard the soft sound of the young woman walking away.

Sean relaxed herself, rounded her shoulders, and began to chant.

***

The ancient words felt hard, stiff, almost like broken metal, as they came from Sean's mouth. But though they left her with the aftertaste of burning bone and rotten eggs, she continued. When she needed to cut her hand to enliven the blood on the floor, she did not hesitate. She'd seen so much blood and fixed so many wounds, it was nothing to her to see her own blood dripping down.

She halfway paused, when the first drop of her blood impacted the dust of Sapadt's. It plumed up, darkly, and lingered as a ribbon in the air, as though it were the smoke from incense.

Then, Sean continued. Long into the night, until almost day break, she chanted, moved things around, set things aflame, and put her own spit, blood and tears into the matter.

When she awoke, having been exhausted at what she hoped was the end of the ritual, she groggily saw a shape above her. She winced on waking, but it didn't attack. When she could focus, she did so and saw a slender, handsome human man with a smile lingering on his face, looking down at her.

His hair was a golden color, but it was hard to make out because the sun was hitting it. He really was there.

Crying, Sean reached up. Her arms were so tired, sore from lifting and balancing things, and her hands hurt from the many small incisions she'd made in them the night before. But she wrapped her arms around Sapadt tightly, and trembled when he embraced her back.

He whispered into her long ear, "you did it. Thank you."

He kissed her neck, and Sean took in a quick breath. "I -- is it, uh-" she stammered, and he stopped, with a smile on his face.

"I'll stop. Sorry. It has been a bit... lonely, being dead." He admitted. Sean laughed, nervous but relieved, and hugged him again.

"Then, don't stop, my pale man. Don't stop."

***

Sapadt could still control the dead. That much was obvious when yet another group of demons attacked at noon the day after his ressurection. It exhausted him, but dozens of skeletal creatures grabbed at the demons legs and tails, as they were brought low by the Sisterhood's now-expert attacks.

"The palace will be ours," Sapadt announced, as the last of the four creatures went down and were subsumed by the skeletons. "And you will have your lands back as they were before this war that brought me down."

Though they were certainly grateful, the women of the village didn't go near the man. He was human, for one thing, and humans meant danger or death to this group. Sean didn't realize that - she had after all been human, so she didn't know at all how many times they'd been forced out of their homes, or hurt, or raped, by them. But now, here was one who promised them the same things as their ancestors had. That Sean would deliver their land, and that they would become prosperous again.

Sean and Sapadt felt that the sisterhood could take care of themselves, by now, at least for the time being. They had to go to the city beyond the hills, to get into the palace and destroy the king.

That would be difficult, but not impossible. She'd gotten in once, and Sapadt knew entrances that might still be there, that none else alive had ever seen.

It was one of those, that they used, to get in. By the light of one mostly full moon, they crept through a corridor that lay behind the throne room and waited. They could see through grillwork that all they would have to do is break through it, and they'd be upon the king.

He arrived at dawn, smugly talking to himself and chuckling about his latest conquest of a little township that had been holding out on his tax-collectors. He plopped into the throne, heavy and full of himself.

Sean saw murder in Sapadt's eyes. He'd explained to her during their flight to the palace city, that this man was the young nephew of the man who'd replaced the man who had killed Sapadt. No one else was alive, that knew him then. It seemed a little distant, but then again, this king on his over-glitzed throne had ordered a dozen children killed because they were 'thieves and beggars' the day before.

Sean felt no hint of remorse when she helped Sapadt break the grille, nor when she kept the guards from entering the room as Sapadt smacked the king around. He liked his new body - he'd been killed in his prime, not as an old man or youth - and he was intent on using it properly.

Sapadt was strong, healthy, handsome. And in the end, this king of his was nothing but a fat angry usurper.

Who had an army of demons.

***

The first thing they had to do was dismiss those demons. It was hard work. They claimed they came with the territory, but Sapadt knew better. They were summoned by the man who'd killed him, and that was how he claimed any control over the city in those days. Now, they were just thugs. And, they didn't much like consorting with the dead, undead or these silly witches with the ears.

So they left.

Eventually, when the city stopped hyperventilating and worrying itself to pieces, Sapadt came to speak on the ledge of the palace that overlooked a wide square. No one had done that in decades - because they were afraid of being killed by something.

Not so, Sapadt. His brilliant eyes matched his smile, as he looked down at the people of his city. Four generations separated them, but still, they knew their true lord when they saw him.

"The townships of Elpan, DeFarra, and the Usagi Shimai, are no longer under the control of the Gelgelan lordship," he announced, "but they will remain under my protection until they are again self-sufficient. Until such time as they are needed as tax providers, they will no longer be taxed." There was a pause, while the people of this city, Gelgela, realized what that meant. "I will want a full census of those living in the Gelgelan region, before any other decisions are made. I want to assure you all that the dark days of your former king are over and done with. No more demons to guard you against speaking, and no more theft of your goods claimed as 'taxation'."

A cheer began to spread. Sean watched as Sapadt basked in this. He loved it - it was what he had been born to, and she could see it. He turned to her, she'd been lurking in the corner of the ledge with some other officials (the commerce director, a pair of priests, that kind of thing). He held his hand out, and she finally took it.

This city was filled with humans, and the sight of the long-eared big-haired girl was enough to all but silence them. "This young girl, Sean Akegata of the Usagi Shimai, has made this all possible." He glanced at her, smiling. He was quite tall, her ears barely went over his head when they stood up. She moved them around, they betrayed more of her emotions than her face did. "And I would like you all to welcome her as my wife, if she would have herself by my side?"

Sean's heart skipped a beat. She blinked, and while some of the people assembled below threw curses at the long-eared inhuman witch, most of them decided that their king ought to have a queen - and why not one like her?

"Well the decision is in," Sean whispered, indicating the crowd's reaction. "I ... I'm all for it, I think."

Sapadt smiled fiercely, but not in a way that made her worry. It wasn't a conquest, but it was a victory none the less, for him.

***

"Do you think you'll ever want to visit Alskyr with me?" Sean asked, "I mean, it's really pretty."

Sapadt tilted his head, and looked at Ajandeykth. "Well, I'd say yes, but your poor dragon has had enough of me for a while."

I'll say! Aja trumpeted a bit. He weighs a ton!

"I do not weigh a ton," Sapadt muttered with a grin. "Now, you take good care of her. I know you will."

"I'll be back before you know it," Sean said. "I just want to collect some things, and I'll be here for good."

King and queen, Sapadt and Sean embraced. He looked at her seriously, though, and kissed her fuzzy nose. "You'll still want to travel. I think there is something left in you that wants to."

"I'll still come back here," she said.

They flew up, over the palace which had been opened up a bit in the last year. There were markets with banners to see from the air, happier people than the place had seen in years. Then Sean and Ajandeykth went back to Paniya.

The visit only lasted for less than a week, as Sean explained to everyone she knew what had happened. Mama Tani was overjoyed - she'd had gold riders born to her, and fostered many leaders of wings, but ... never a queen, really.

Sean packed up her remaining things - and on her way out saw the scribble of her last visit - 23.

It would be there, still... If she needed to come back. She'd know how long to wait, so that the people here weren't confused by her arrival again and again.

Then, they went back to Gelgela.

It was short work to get all of Sean's things into her spacious quarters. While she was setting up, and deciding that she wanted to run a healer's shop in addition to whatever strange work being a queen could be, it also came into her head that ... she ought to take Sapadt out on one of her jaunts. He would be able to come back without ever really having left so far as anyone else knew.

Over the next few months, then, Sean convinced him to come along on one more flight. She goaded him by telling him she thought he was afraid of heights, that's why he didn't want to fly.

"It's that Aja is not really... big!" He swore up and down. "But ... if you say you want to take me somewhere, all right, let's go. I think I can trust you." He smiled again, that beautiful kingly smile of his. "But where are we going?"

"What king shouldn't be aided by dragons?" Sean said, as she felt him slide up close to her on Aja's neck. He suddenly went all stiff on her.

"W... what?" He stammered. "I can't do that! I don't have -"

"I have time, you have time. And besides, if Aja is going to be here I don't want her to be alone. Don't you think it'd be best to have at least a companion for her?"

"You want to use me to get a dragon?" Sapadt said, unsure. He was going to add something more, when Aja took off and headed through the Nexus.

Sean felt Sapadt go quite cold, when they were there. "Worried?" She asked, and he hugged on to her closely.

"It's ... not a place I want to keep visiting. I'm never sure how the dead I manipulate feel about it, and I'm not keen to find out."

"Don't worry about them. Concentrate on where we land." Sean assured him.

When they came out from the Nexus, it was over a brilliantly lit glade, surrounded by green hills and a sea that went on forever.

"You see how pretty it is?" Sean said. "It's called Lantessama. I heard of it through the Nexus dragons. I want to look around a bit. Okay?"

"While I do exactly what?" Sapadt asked, as they landed. "I mean, I hardly know my way around this place."

"There is the person you want to talk to," she indicated someone who approached at a quick clip. "Tell her who you are, and that I brought you! I want to look at these... oh, they're so pretty..." Sean said, of a huge patch of flowers.

Sean found herself wandering about, admiring the strange dragons they had here, and checking out the local food. When she passed by a little stall in one market, a dark skinned woman in a turban beckoned her close.

"You have the look about you of a special occasion..." She said, strangely touching Sean's face and shoulders. Her eyes (well, her eye - one seemed to be glossed over with a cataract) drifted down to her midsection. "And, there is why. You be careful with your work, girl - you don't want to lose this gift of yours..."

Her gnarled hands hovered over Sean's belly. "... I'm - I'm," she said.

"Of course. And I won't even make a silly joke about you bein' a rabbit or anything either." She winked, and sent Sean on her way.

Her way turned into a steep walk, until she got to a garden. There, she saw a bit of a dark nook, and walked through it. The air was cool and dry, and she walked down the corridor for quite a ways before it opened up again into a large cavern.

There were pastel colored eggs, on a pile of sand. "Eggs. Hmn -" she said. "I wonder whose these are!" Then she giggled. "One of them might be for your daddy," she said to her stomach. Her tummy wasn't any bigger than it had been before, but ... somehow she knew.

"Would you like to ... oh - say, you should come right over here and sign up, miss," said a young man. "The Easter eggs are here and well, you're just right for them."

Sean's red eyebrow lifted up, and she faintly wondered what Easter was. And, why she'd be perfect for it. She signed up, and then wandered away. What had she gotten herself into now?

"They've said I'm to stand, there is a clutch," Sapadt said, when she ran into him in the hallways of the cavernous place. He sounded both confused and excited. "And where have you been?"

"I've... I've been to another nest, I think I'm going to be getting a dragon as well..." She waved off Aja's annoyed muttering in her mind.

"Then we're both going to be here a while. This will be... interesting..." Sapadt said, "and they've given us quarters, if we need them. We do need them, right?"

Sean nodded.

"Sean, what's the matter? You were so keen to be here a while ago. Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, my love. Just a little something that you've done is all." She said, looking away. She couldn't hide her grin, though.

"Wha- what is it? I'll fix it, what can I -"

"We're going to have a baby, Sapadt, you and I!" She giggled. She all but lept into his arms, and so they celebrated in their quarters until late in the evening.

Aja snuck into their place - she was small enough to reach it through the exterior corridors. She merely wanted to be with her rider. They would be a bigger family than they had been before, once they left Lantessama!

NEXT!