Dakota watched the skies, and was finally rewarded. The dragons had arrived again, and with them, they brought her some metals that only they were capable of refining. Through dragon fire, it seemed, many metals would melt and fall away to dust. But this special ore could not only withstand dragon fire, it thrived in it, it moved smoothly, and barely became heated.

The big dark dragon which handed off the heavy satchel to Dakota leaned in closely with his huge wedge-shaped head. His eye focused on her, his eye was nearly half the size of her head.

"I trust that you will not create a dragonslaying weapon with that. It would be most unfortunate."

Dakota took that in stride, and smiled. "I make weapons, but only against my enemies. I'd hardly call you and your people enemies to me, Arnjar, so you've nothing to fear from me."

"Good," the dragon said, backing up again, "may your forge never grow cold."

He turned and opened his great wings. His two smaller companions took off quickly, and Dakota saw them scanning the skies for any hints of approaching danger. There was none, House Domina and its vicinity was protected from that kind of thing. Mostly, by dragons.

Dakota wondered, who in their right mind would go up against a dragon? She had seen them fighting against all manner of dangerous creatures in her short life - not that she'd been present, but there were good magical recordings of various battles throughout the centuries. She wasn't sure that she ever really wanted to see such a battle close up.

With the pair of scouts in the air, Arnjar lifted himself into the sky. He was easily twice the size of his companions, and probably three times their age. And dragons lived a very long time indeed. It was very rare for dragons of any kind these days to interact with humanity. But theirs was a special case.

Those were Lucas' "inlaws". And those that he brought here to House Domina were friends to human kind, at least passably so. There were benefits to having a dragon mage on one's staff.

As the dragons faded into the sky, Dakota set about bringing the heavy package of refined ore back to her forge. She had to chase a couple imps away from the doors, but nothing got in without her say-so. The large doublethick doors swung open with a loud long creaking, more for show than due to any lack of oiling. The forge was warm inside, a flame magically kept alive came awake when she entered.

She dropped the heavy bag onto the counter, where she'd be able to scoop out its contents more easily. There were some things she liked to do with magic, but this was not one of them. Some things just required a certain human touch - without magic. She heated the forge up by pumping on the bellows and adding a small incantation to create the degree of heat she wanted.

When the fire was duly burning (note the lack of coal in the forge? it ran on magic flame anyway) Dakota took a certain sized scoop of ore out from the bag. The metal was white-blue in color, a pretty shade. It looked like aluminum in a way, but more zinc-ish. She put the ore into its smelter, and inserted that carefully into the flames.

Soon, it would melt. But not so soon, because of course, this was ore that could withstand dragon's flames...

Dakota set about looking for a stone or gem that she could put into this ring she wanted to make. It wasn't for herself, but it also wasn't a comission. It was meant as a sale piece, or an item she could trade for something else later on. There were already dozens of such items lining the walls and shelves of her dorm, but this one would be worth more than those combined.

She was trying for a bargaining piece. Something she could trade in for that one ring, the one she had been researching for years. It would complete her set - a set of thirteen rings each imbued with a different element or 'subject matter' to control.

She had the fire, water, earth and air rings of course, there were dozens of those everywhere. They were easily gotten. The other elements, electricity, temperature, light and gravity, had come with a bit more difficulty. Some of them even were said to be unique or impossible - of course, it was Wizards mostly saying that because they didn't understand electricity or gravity at all. With a bit of work and research, Dakota had found those.

She even had managed to get ahold of the telekinetic and time rings. Though how she was unable to remember due to some unfortunate accident using that time ring the first day. Also during that day, though, she learned of the dimension and mind rings - and the one which she wanted the most, the Infinity ring.

Why was it so important? Because it allowed all the rings to function together. Bringing opposites in tune, instead of cancelling them out. Of all the rings she had, she liked looking at this batch of 10 out of 13. Each band was different, and most had a stone or gem of some kind on it. All had tiny inscriptions that allowed the magics to flow through them, and Dakota had been able to read those since she was a young girl.

It was how she found her first two, anyway. With the surprise even before she started using magic properly. She'd been raised in a Muggle home, with hardly a mention of magic outside of "it's not real, it's like magic". So of course she was rather taken aback when the little ring she thought was a birthstone for her (a ruby topped gold band) turned out to be the ring controlling fire! Its pair, one of the more rare rings, set with a perfect silver band and a small perfect diamond, allowed her to use ice as well as flame - which she loves.

While she pondered the rings she had, the ore began to melt. It gave off a strange smell, which alerted her to the fact that it was now time to pour it into a mold and start working. It hardly needed to be worked at all - this metal almost sprang into the mold. While she poured it, she cancelled the hot forge spell, and the room cooled down nicely.

She liked doing things this way, concentrating on her work alone in her forge. But she got the feeling that just around the next tick of the clock, someone would be --

"Are you busy?" Called someone from the doorway. A meek voice, high pitched.

"Of course I'm busy, I'm in my work room, aren't I?" Dakota said, while staring intently at the mold. She didn't dare lose any of this precious ore, and not one small drop of it was wasted. It slipped into the mold, which had a complex design of crossing edged bands and room for a stone, and began to cool. That would take a while, and Dakota wouldn't try putting a spell on it just yet. It had to be inscribed, the stone had to be found...

"What is it?" She asked, then, as she turned from her insense work and pushing her gloved hand through her messy hair.

"I've a message from the headmistress," said a servant elf, "there is a meeting in the main hall. Everyone is requested." The elf leaned in, his big floppy ears dangling over his shoulders, and his huge lemon-yellow eyes blinked, as he said quietly, "I think it's about them dragons, missus. Don't want to miss out on those!"

Dakota smiled, and nodded. "You're right, thanks. I'll be right there." Dakota turned and put her work down, the mold would take care of itself, and the ore was all used in the ring. She might even be able to get some inspiration as to what kind of stone to put in the ring, at the meeting.

***

The main hall was warmly lit with magical candles, far brighter than normal mundane ones could have brought the place. Dakota walked through the stone hall and entered, seeing a number of the other staff and students already there. It wasn't a surprise, her work shop was a bit off the main building.

She listened in to the gossip and the ghosts, but nothing really caught her interest. Several others had dawdled and finally came in, leaving two empty seats: Lucas, and Iris. The dragon mage and his paladin. Sweet.

"We've gotten word about other dragon sites," Zora said, cheerfully. "Now, I don't want this to interrupt anyone's schedules, but I think there will be more than one of us gone this time."

"What kind of dragons are they?" Asked one girl, leaning her elbows on the wooden table and blinking her wide dark eyes. "I love Svedok's," she sighed, and the dragon'taur shifted around a bit uneasily. He was still shy around humans.

Dakota took interest when Zora opened an image-spell. An orb glowed into life and then showed all angles around it a beautiful nest of eggs. They were guarded of course, by several large dragonesses. The scene changed to another site, where a pair of nervous looking people stood around as the gorgeous dragons around them bickered about whether the eggs would hatch looking like themselves or the local striped-types.

"That's... Really a neat looking place," Dakota said, entranced by this second place. "What's it called?"

"It's the Moire Protectorate, on Lao Daemia," Zora said reading off the little glowing letters at the bottom of the vision orb. "They need a number of candidates, Dakota. Did you want a ride there?"

"... I can get myself there, if I know where to look." Dakota's eyes were fixated on the large-winged dragon beyond the eggs, who seemed to be looking back at her curiously.

"I think I would rather have someone take you," Zora said, as she dispelled the orb and waved her hand in front of Dakota's eyes to break the hypnotic gaze she had. "We'll find someone for the other place too, but since you're volunteering for Moire, let's get you on out of here. Pack up."

"oh - okay," Dakota said, a bit jarred. "I can't wait, but I need to finish something first."

"Well don't take too long." Zora said, turning back to the rest, and filtering through them to see who might head off to Coeptus."

Dakota turned and grinned, fondling the Time ring. "I can't possibly waste any time, Zora, don't worry. I'll be packed by morning, and done with my work. I'll even leave some homework for the little brats to do in the meantime."

***

Dakota was more concerned about what to do with the ring she'd crafted, than anything else. She first off got herself packed. That was in her dorm, so it was away from the forge workshop. It took rather longer than she thought it might, but she didn't know how long to assume she'd need to pack for - and she wasn't sure whether she'd be able to come back for things in the meantime presuming she bonded a dragon at all. If she didn't, clearly, she'd be back here quickly.

She put most of her work clothing into a sturdy trunk, along with a batch of tools and basic workable metals and projects. Normal clothing and a couple dresses (which she abhorred wearing, but she had them none the less because what was a fancy dress ball at a School like Domina's without a nice formal outfit?) and her smallish collection of useful rings went into a smaller more travel-worn case. It took the most time to determine which rings and items to bring, and which to allow to sit alone languishing in her rooms.

Each of them were so unique and so ... hers. She never wanted to part with most of her things. But she had to, they would be here, protected. She wove an enchantment which would take effect while she was gone, and would allow only Zora and select few other staff members to enter and leave her room. That way if someone really needed an item they thought she had, it could be used.

Then, she got some sleep. Long into the night, and about until five or so in the morning, Dakota was in deep slumber. Her dreams were mixed with dragons of local types and the bizarrely colored Moire ones, eggs, and rings.

When she awoke, she was inspired, but not directly. She snatched breakfast without anyone really watching for her, and then decided what her next move was. Wearily she dragged her cases into the hall, and then trudged into the work shop hall where her forge was. She used the Time ring, and forced herself back in time about six hours, to just past midnight.

Working at night was okay for her, especially when she'd actually just had a decent night's sleep. The workshop needed to be cleaned up and set into stasis so she swept the place, got everything back into its drawer or hung on a hook. The forge would be cold, and would not light for anyone but herself, as she placed an enchantment on it. She would certainly be needing a shower too, after this, so she'd have to plan for that a bit later. For now, however, she broke open the mold with the dragon-ore in it, and saw that it only needed a bit of filing down in places where the mold lines ran around the exotic cut of the bands.

It felt light, warm still from the forge and its unusual properties. She felt more and more attached to this ring, and lost any interest in selling it as she gazed at different stones she had in small drawers all around the work room.

"No, that won't do... nope, not that one either." She said, muttering to herself and pacing around each area of the shop. But she didn't find anything, not that stirred her or sang to her. But the ring was nearly finished, so she packed a couple more tools away into a special tool box, put the ring into one of the softly lined leather pouches in its lid (along with two or three more that were laying around the workshop - what a surprise) and decided that she'd just have to bring it along and see what happens.

This done, Dakota used the Time ring one more time this day, and flipped back another she headed off to the communal baths in the north wing, as the prior versions of herself were at once sleeping, and grabbing a bite to eat.

She was used to this kind of thing, and had a keen memory for where she should be in relation to where she already was. Or would be. The excitement of being in a place that was completely foreign to her crept up as she finally exceeded all her other versions in time, and came from the baths with clean clothing, hair and smelling nice and fresh. She was weary of course, but she would merely be traveling with someone on a dragon, there couldn't be that much work to be done immediately upon arriving somewhere, could there?

As long as her enchantments for lifting the steamer trunk and her other luggage would work as they traveled, she was happy. Dakota was pleased to see Svedok and Dairruinth waiting for her in the courtyard. Big black dragon, and it wasn't unusual now to see Svedok in his human shape. Of course, it also wasn't completely unheard of to see the big black dragon posing as a human too with his friend. They made a good looking team, Dakota wished that the boy wasn't so shy.

"We're going where?" Svedok asked, and Dairruinth snorted and rolled his great head. His horns swished around, and Svedok chuckled.

"Fine, fine. You drive." He said, and helped Dakota up onto the dragon's strong wide back. The pieces of luggage would have to be strapped down, or carried - but then Dai got it into his head to simply shrink them down with his own magic.

"You've got to teach me that," Dakota said, with a grin. "Now, on to Moire!"

See what happens at the hatching!