Zigadenus grinned from below his mop of unruly hair, and tapped his fingers on his knee. It was his father's idea that he go visit the local education establishment - though he knew almost everything that his father and mother could pass along through their unusual methods already. He knew it would be fun. He'd blended in for days, before someone caught him.

"You're not a student here," the dark-skinned and rather balding man stated.

"That's true," Zig said. "But there's no harm in me being here, is there?"

"If you aren't listed in our files, I'm afraid young man that no matter how good you are at answering questions or turning in homework you're not going to be allowed to remain." The principal huffed.

"Oh, I think I'll be here for a long time to come," Zigadenus replied, standing.

Mystefied, the administrator said nothing as the tow-headed kid left his office. Days later he noticed faintly that a large number of animals - rats and mice, mostly, but some birds and squirrels - had been turning up dead near the school. He wondered absently if the kid had something to do with it, but Zig was nowhere to be found.

Of course there were all those weedy dandilion-looking flowers cropping up on the football field too. How annoying was that? They'd have to get a team of people to dig the things up - their roots were so long and they rarely came up whole when they were pulled.

Half the football team turned up sick with weakness and vomiting, they knew those flowers had to go - everyone had pitched in to get rid of them and sure enough some idiots found it funny to stick the torn up plant into their teeth and act like the hicks they were.

Zig watched from a perch high above the lower lying field, casting more seeds to the wind.

Calyeni Caverns was Zig's home for a while. It was entertaining, but there wasn't enough open ground for him to spew seeds and get everyone's allergies in a huff. He could taint their food stock, that wasn't hard. But then again, he also wanted to be there when the eggs hatched. If he kept it up, like most of his siblings, he'd be out on his ear and wouldn't get the chance to bond at all

When the eggs on the sands mysteriously increased in numbers, Zig wondered - what had laid them? Where was the mother? Was she cool?

But indeed, it was a mystery even to him. So they hardened along side the others, until finally the day of the hatching arrived. Zigadenus and everyone else piled into the sands, watched by many.

And even though a spectacle like this would have been more fun if there were people shrieking in internal agony, Zig controlled himself. Sometime after the first couple batches of eggs broke, he audience had no time to react, as seven more eggs burst open. The first of the bunch, a red, strode over to Zigadenus and grinned.

"I'm I'atenth, and myschief is my middle name!" I'atenth roared, making Zigadenus grin from ear to ear.

"I'm sure it is, and I'm sure we'll get into some. Good job I'atenth. I can't wait to see what you can do."

The mischief started soon enough. When I'atenth was old enough to learn to fly, in fact.

"Let's go over that field, there," Zig told the red, who complied. They were riding on sweep missions, important enough that if something bad were happening in their small radius of flight they could report it quickly, but insignificant enough that their duties could be lumped in with exploration or down time.

The scenery went by quickly, the smallish red's strong wings carried them down over a grassy field. There were homes dotting the area, small wood and stone buildings with carriage houses and such. "Looks like a good place to put down some roots..." Zigadenus said, and spread his arms.

It had been such a long time since he was able to cut loose like this! Almost like crop dusting, his spore seeds drifted in huge misty clusters down to the grass. No one saw them, anyone important anyway, and shortly they were done.

"I like how you do that," I'atenth said, "but I am getting a little tired myself. We should report in..."

"You're right, but I want to remember where this field is, just to keep track of it." Zig looked around - there was a road, which led into the dragonry, and a set of three hills nearby. That would do.

"How exactly is it, that you can claim responsibility for this, then?" Asked the dragonry's medical officer. "You're no mage, you appear to be... entirely human."

Zig stood with a weird little smile on his cute face, looking away from her. "Appearances can be decieving." He waved his hand and suddenly several of the herbs - ones which the doctor had a hard time cultivating in the soils in this climate - grew to three times their size in their little pots. It took a moment for the doctor to realize what had happened, as Zigadenus looked on with that gloating smile of his.

"T-that's amazing!" She breathed. "So..." her tactic switched immediately, she was a clever woman. "If you can spend your time helping people, perhaps growing crops or ridding soils of unwanted weeds, why do you choose to harm people? We're going to need those riders you put down with your sneezing sickness, there are attacks coming."

Zig turned around, looking at all the pots, bottles, jars of stuff. "Well, see, my parents aren't too hot on humanity. Sure, they look human, well my dad anyway, but... We're not. And mother had some... very bad times with the ones she knew. It's just in my blood, you know?"

More than he knew. His siblings were out still, getting into more trouble. He wanted to be with them. And shortly, he would have to be. The doctor could find no good reason not to tell the commander of their dragonry to have him removed. He was a threat, obviously. One who could have chosen to be good and kind, but instead makes mischief and feels no shame in it.

"Well I'atenth," Zig said with a smile as he collected his clothing and goods, "looks like we're going home."

I look so forward to seeing your nest mates, I'atenth bespoke from the ledge, I just know we will have a greater time than ever with one another...