Demona Sengihr

Simon flew his white dragon almost to the end of the world, and back. The freedom that he experienced on the back of the lovely Talor dragon would never pale for him. He'd met his father time and again, at the odd school on one of the Earths out there, and they had become friends easily. He'd continued to outrun his mother. Some day, he would perhaps out live her, too. It was looking as though Van Sanger of Carramba High was immortal - and that passed to his odd Zekiran/Pernese son, as much as his mother's ability to "Genrehop" - that was aided greatly by their vivid imaginations, and Kemroth's teleportation.

Kemroth was expert at flipping through time and space. The Nexus was quite well traveled by them, by the time he decided to settle back down somewhere and try to remember how to live properly.

They found themselves in a place known as White Valley, a known location on Zekira that harbored Renegade Slaves and Bayaran who had escaped their Owners or Bond companies. They had dragons, a couple of them, but there were local dragons too. Snake like things, short-lived and animalistic beasts. Kemroth didn't much like hanging around them.

While they were there, Simon's senses perked up and alerted him - gave him a familiar nasty sensation in his guts. He looked up, into the cloudless early-evening sky, and saw a pale brown dragon, all too real.

"E'tan," he breathed.

Or, just Eton, said a mental voice, clearly in his head. Either Simon had gotten lazy, or E'tan had grown better at his telepathy. Or again, as the voice pointed out, perhaps I am not trying to attack you as I used to.

The way that E'tan said this betrayed an odd sensation. This was not the same E'tan. Something had happened?

When the brown dragon landed beside tiny Kemroth, nearly everyone in White Valley had scattered. They knew this dragon too?

Alone, then, Simon stood on the sandy outcrop overlooking the little Renegade township. Their dragons communicated carefully to one another, neither man reading their thoughts. They both turned away from one another, as though disgusted.

"So you impressed a White," E'tan said, taking off his riding jacket and helmet, which Simon had never seen him wearing before. He looked much more professional. "That's quite a job there. Congratulations."

"... Thank you," Simon said, wary. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing you are," E'tan lied, "just exploring."

"You're on business, E'tan, don't lie to me." Simon said, curtly and narrowing his eyes. "My question is what business is it?"

"Astute as ever," E'tan muttered. "I've come for more breeding materials. I'm a Breeder, that's what I do."

"You're a criminal," Simon said, lowering his head but not averting his gaze. He'd long learned how to stand up to his aggressors, something that his father taught him on the side, in addition to all sorts of anatomy, healing, teaching and socialization. Aggressive socialization was something that Van of Carramba was quite good at.

"I... yes, I am." E'tan said, almost seeming proud of himself. "But I am also in business. Competition, really. So if you don't mind, I'm going to find who I am looking for, and be back with them shortly."

"What, you're not using the same 'force them and leave them' technique as before?" Simon spat. "Has it ever occurred to you to ask before stealing someone's time or body?"

E'tan turned and looked at the rebellious boy. The boy had grown up - he was close to 200 years old. However, E'tan was closer to 800 or more, no one knew because there was no one around who had known him that whole time. So Simon was still a 'boy' to this yellow-haired pale skinned man.

"Never, actually," E'tan said at last.

He pushed Simon aside, with his narrow shoulder. Shortly, from the township below, there were several shouts, and an angry flapping of wings. It was as though a field of flitters were erupting into flight - but really it was one or two of the local oddities. Heavily Bred escaped Slaves, who had then found one another. Their mutations were so queer that even Simon barely recognized some of them as Human (or, Zekiran, as they really were). One had a carapace like set of wings, which snapped open and carried him into the sky. Another had static electricity dancing around her like a halo, and she vanished into thin air with a popping sound.

There were other, more normal types - two of which E'tan appeared to want with him. They didn't fight him - Simon knew their actions all too well. But he too could do nothing, knowing that they were still Renegades, still within a certain amount of time when their Owners could be looking for them. If they wanted to be free some day, they would do as E'tan said, and be returned not really worse for wear.

They had already been through enough, Simon thought. But... Simon still didn't like the thought of what E'tan was doing. He'd never quite gotten why the man was doing what he was - taking apparently random people and breeding them together. Perhaps they had powers Simon didn't know about, or perhaps they didn't have powers, he wanted to normal-out something else in another person?

Simon should have been born a Breeder, not a Slave. He had the eye for it, if not the true education. Two of the more normal looking people from White Valley crept upon the back of the pale brown dragon, nervously.

E'tan mounted up, while Simon watched. They soared up, into the evening sky, and vanished into the Nexus.

Simon didn't like it one bit. He wanted to turn to the other inhabitants of the Valley and yell at them 'why can't you stand up for yourselves!' but he knew the answer to that already. E'tan would turn them all in, if they resisted.

Simon's curiosity got the better of him, though. He sprinted to Kemroth, clung on to the narrow white shoulders, and said, "follow him."

Follow... follow him?

"Yes, Kemroth, follow him. I want to see if he's still in the same place and time." Simon said, grimly.

The complexities of dragon minds came in handy. They didn't really know where E'tan and Utainth had gone, because they simply didn't tell anyone. But, the dragons had been in communication before hand, and there was a place that was high on the brown's mind, according to Kemroth. An island, off the coast of Kiran's Black Point.

They flew into the sky and waved at the remaining Valley inhabitants, then concentrated on that place.

***

They arrived while it was brightly daylit, though after noon by a bit. So it was the same day, perhaps. The isle was almost entirely uninhabited, save for a building near its center, and some huts along the rim of the jungle. The beach framing everything was quite beautiful, Kemroth would blend right in with its sand. They landed and Kemroth told Simon, there is no other dragon here. They have gone off again, and I will not follow a cold trail. We've done that enough.

"All right," Simon said. "But I'm going to explore, while we're here. No sense in leaving a perfectly nice island like this unexplored."

I will be waiting. I will warn you if they come back.

"Thanks." Simon said, and walked toward the first hut he thought he could see. The thick parts of the jungle made it hard to traverse, until he found what looked to be an old trail. It was quite overgrown, but still visible, so that told him that the place wasn't regularly inhabited. He stepped carefully into the hut, which was largely empty, and sniffed around it. No one home.

The trail led inland, probably to that big building. That was obviously where anything was going to be found - so Simon steeled himself, and set off. It took him nearly twenty minutes to hike into the jungle, and up the slight incline to the clearing where the building sat.

It was a cement and stone, nicely made place. Looked professional enough to be a lab. If this was E'tan's place, that's certainly what it was. Simon thought he heard something in another room, when he entered the main hallway. The building wasn't all that big, but it looked as though it might just be the top of the iceberg. Underground labs could be filling the whole island, for all he knew.

He silently explored a bit and then headed toward where he thought he had heard something. In one room, where there were three people (two of whom were asleep or perhaps in trances), only one walked around at all. She was tall, lean, muscular. She had dark brown skin, was barefoot with oddly shaped toes, and had long straight brown hair. Her ears poked out over the small headband she wore, and her clothing was suited to this warm equatorial area.

"I swear I can never just get anything done without being interrupted," she said, her voice was slightly nasal and a bit chilly. "What is it now?" She turned - but froze. This was not who she expected to see, this was a stranger? On the island?

Her hand (which had three stubby fingers and a thumb, a strange trait, but one which Simon was naggingly familiar with) fumbled toward an alarm button on a piece of machinery.

"Wait, wait," Simon said, holding his own hands out. "Please, I didn't mean to interrupt- I'm here - um," he stammered suddenly, why was he here?!

The young woman's face was smooth, round, but had long lines beside her downturned nose, dark green eyes gleamed out from her rich skin. "... Who are you?" She asked, putting her hand down. Her heart was racing. Something was really wrong.

The pair of sleeping people nearby stirred a bit, until the woman turned back to them and exerted some kind of mind control on them. She was actually placing them into a dreaming loop - which would last until she took them out of it again. How Simon knew this was beyond him - his own power over dreams had only barely manifested itself.

"I - my name is Simon, I'm ... I was looking to follow E'tan, but he's not here at all is he?" Simon said.

"... No, he's not. He did come by earlier, but I've been working alone for some time." She still hadn't removed her eyes from his, she kept gazing at Simon oddly. At last, she said, "why do you look just like me?"

Simon's heart stopped, or at least it felt as though it had. His hands and limbs got cold. "... oh." Was all he could get out.

"You know why?" The young woman said, tilting her head. She looked strong, nimble, less green than Simon did. "Tell me!" She sounded rather more excited and curious than demanding.

"... You don't know where your mother happens to be, do you?" Simon said, weakly. He glanced around a bit, but wouldn't find her here.

"My mother isn't here, she's at the Vin facility." Then suddenly the girl inside the woman snapped wide awake. "You're my father. That's why."

"I think so," Simon said. "I mean, it couldn't be anything else. I have siblings but none of them are like you. And ... it was a long time ago, for me, but you can't be older than twenty..."

"Lord E'tan sometimes talks about you, but only in passing," the girl said. "Oh - I am Demona. And you are Simon."

"Simon on White Kemroth," Simon announced more formally, drawing himself up a bit. "I'm a dragon rider, now. I ...wasn't, when I knew your mother."

"She never speaks of it," Demona said.

"That's because E'tan made her forget me." Simon said, sadly. "I... didn't want it to be that way."

"No one does," Demona said. "But that's the way he works."

Simon looked around, and then his gaze went to the pair of people on the comfortable looking lab platforms. They appeared to still be sleeping, not really tied down or anything, but not moving.

"Oh, I'm working with them. Would you like to see?" Demona said, almost hopeful. "I don't get anyone real here any more. E'tan doesn't allow visitors. He'll be furious when he finds out about you."

"No, I don't know if he will be," Simon said. "And yeah, what ... exactly are you doing?"

Demona went to the pair, they looked like normal everyday people - to Simon's eyes they were still a bit odd because they were Zekiran, so 'normal' meant deeply red skin on the one, vibrant yellow with green spots on the woman. "I'm catching their thoughts, and downloading them to this machine. It can record their memories."

Simon's eyebrow went up, "why?"

"Why not?" Demona asked. "Because E'tan wants them, that's why. I can't question my Lord, can I?" She was neither sad nor affronted, by that, but seemd affected none the less. "You do not approve of this."

"I ... don't know what to say. I think I just hate E'tan enough to question anything he does, no matter how typical it might be for you to do it." Simon admitted. "What do their memories tell you? What would he want from them?"

"You're awfully curious for a coward," Demona said, offhand. That was obviously what E'tan had taught her, about him. Yet, she did not refuse to tell him anything. "They are land holders on a particular plot of land. He wants to know if they've ever seen anything like this:" she aimed a clear picture of an odd stone into his mind. "But they're not really the most perceptive of people, so just asking them didn't work. I need to sort through their memories, so I'm placing them here," she patted the recording device, "and then I'm going to look through it later."

"Seems like time consuming work for just a rock."

"It's not just a rock... but if you don't know about that I'm not really supposed to tell anyone about it. It's important, that E'tan stay away from it. He'd like to have it all drawn up into one place, but there seems to be a bit more of it than we'd first thought."

"Abducting people so you can find a rock that he's supposed to stay away from..." Simon repeated, the short version sounded a bit more ridiculous than Demona's assesment had. This was not lost on her - she was at least as intelligent as he, and she began to smirk.

"It... does sound a little odd, doesn't it?" She said.

Simon approached her carefully, while they were still laughing. "Please, um, you understand I just want to - make sure you're real?" He said, his hand carefully up and seeming to tremble.

Demona smiled, her small lips pulling back to reveal big white teeth - Van's teeth, really. She grasped Simon's fingers and put them onto her cheek. High cheeks, like her mother Devotion's. She had longer fingers and more toes than Devotion had, but the strength in her eyes seemed to come from somewhere else, not even from Simon. They did not know it was her grandmother, Avaur's, trait.

"I'm real. So are you. It's nice to finally meet you. Sometimes I'd wonder who you were, what you were like. Since my mother is ... well, she's a bit spacey."

"It's no wonder," Simon said. "E'tan treated her like dirt. His own daughter."

That made Demona stand tall and still. "... What?" She said, hard and distant.

"Oh - oh," Simon breathed. "You didn't know..." Simon went silent.

"No, I did not know." She said, each word clipped. Suddenly her demeanor went from sweet and helpful to somewhat enraged. It was not focused on Simon, and for that, he was extremely thankful. "How could I? He owns me, he didn't say anything like that. He never mentions it to anyone - how did you know?"

"Because I'm immune to his mind wipes," Simon said.

Demona blinked. Carefully she approached again. "Really." Simon nodded. "Then that explains a lot, doesn't it?"

Simon's eyebrow went up again.

"The fact that he allows me to be here, alone, working for him. Not traveling with him like my mother - attached to him because if his powers weaken around her, she'd remember who she was." Demona stated, rather flatly. "It makes perfect sense. He can't control me, he has never even tried, that I recall."

It suddenly made her feel sick. This revelation that her owner, her Rogue Lord Breeder Etan was her grandfather? How was she supposed to react to that?! Demona sank into a chair, her strong fingers clutching the arm rest of it until it broke open revealing the stuffing inside.

She hardly noticed.

Simon wondered what to do. "I ... I'm a dragon rider," he reiterated.

"I heard. Good for you." Demona said, blandly. She barely blinked, staring straight ahead.

"I can take these two back home, if you know where to show me they live," he suggested with a wave at the pair of Land Holders. "And then we can take you out of here too. To where ever you want to go."

"Why would I want to go anywhere but by my Lord's side?" Demona said, a hint of pain and sharp anger in her voice.

"Because he's not telling you - or anyone - the whole truth about anything. He didn't tell me what his intentions were, when he bought me from my mother. Because he's a criminal, and he's insane." Simon tried to keep it from sounding too much like a list. But he'd had many many years to think on this matter, and no one to tell the results to. Until now.

"And because I can just take you away and give you the freedom to go where you want to go, and because you're my daughter." Simon added, more softly.

It took many minutes for Demona to think on this. Normally, Simon would never have tried rushing anyone on this kind of decision - to leave her Lord, or to run away from home. It took him long enough, anyway. But she had the benefit of a bolder heritage than he had - and a more flexible Lord indeed. Simon absently wondered how much of his own mother's madness this girl would have inherited. It seemed to have passed him by, largely.

"You could take me away?" Demona asked, tears in her eyes. Simon was getting wave upon wave of emotion from her, now. It hadn't been easy to identify, but her emotions grew stronger and stronger until the young woman broke down in tears.

Simon embraced his daughter - his daughter - for the first time, swaying with her until her tears subsided. His kept coming, but he was used to that.

"I will if you wish me to." Simon said, to her question.

"I do wish." Demona said. "You said you'd take care of them?"

"We'll do that first, I'll show you how it's done." Simon smiled, and helped her out of the chair. "Can you convince them they haven't been taken away from their home?"

"Not really. That would be something that Etan would do."

"Then they'll have to live with it, he'll get them later." Simon announced, "wake them up."

She did so, disengaging the machinery which she'd been working with as well. The pair woke up, disoriented, panicky. Simon's senses flaired up, he could tell they were quite scared. It had been a long time since his Zekiran-born senses had gotten this much of a workout. It was odd, like hearing a sound again after ages of deafness.

"Kemroth will take them, and then us." Simon announced. Demona looked to the sky, where the bright Kemroth swooped over the trees.

Her eyes lit up, and her face became young again - she always looked so serious around her Lord or even her mother. "He's beautiful!" She cried. "He's not at all like the dragons I've seen!"

"That's because he's not from Zekira," Simon said. He explained, albeit briefly, that Kemroth wasn't from this planet - nor was Simon, really. Demona gave Kemroth the clear information about where the couple's Homestead was, and while they were still a bit confused, the people did understand the concept that they'd be teleporting away to their home - hopefully to live undisturbed again.

Kemroth had a bit of trouble with both of them on his back, they were not exactly skinny people, these Land Masters. But he managed, flew up, and then vanished from sight.

"That's amazing," Demona said.

"Lots of off-world dragons can do it, most of them in fact." Simon said. "If you want, I could bring you to some of the weyrs or caers they are bred in."

"Could you? I'd love to see them. They sound fantastic." Demona said, waiting, scanning the sky for the return of this beautiful white dragon.

"Then that's what we'll do. But I do want to take one more side trip first. It's kind of important."

"I don't want to mess anything up," Demona said. "I'll try not to be in the way."

When Kemroth returned some minutes later, Simon smiled and laughed at Demona's worries. "No, I think you'll actually want to be in the way. I want you to meet your other grandfather."

Demona Sengihr, daughter of Simon Sengihr and Devotion, related to Etan (granddaughter), related to Sengihr. Female, age 19, born 10471(?) on Zekira (Kiran desert) (Not on Pern as Simon belives) Highly intelligent, yet with no formal education beyond that which Etan wishes her to have. "Tech-elf" powers and mutations, along with the typical Sengihr sensory and genetic controls. Odd powers: Dream control, memory downloading (into self or machine), painseeking, genetic attack, self-gene control and healing. Telepathy muted, but present, Heals others, and can control machines.
Simon flew his white dragon almost to the end of the world, and back. The freedom that he experienced on the back of the lovely Talor dragon would never pale for him. He'd met his father time and again, at the odd school on one of the Earths out there, and they had become friends easily. He'd continued to outrun his mother. Some day, he would perhaps out live her, too. It was looking as though Van Sanger of Carramba High was immortal - and that passed to his odd Zekiran/Pernese son, as much as his mother's ability to "Genrehop" - that was aided greatly by their vivid imaginations, and Kemroth's teleportation. Kemroth was expert at flipping through time and space. The Nexus was quite well traveled by them, by the time he decided to settle back down somewhere and try to remember how to live properly. They found themselves in a place known as White Valley, a known location on Zekira that harbored Renegade Slaves and Bayaran who had escaped their Owners or Bond companies. They had dragons, a couple of them, but there were local dragons too. Snake like things, short-lived and animalistic beasts. Kemroth didn't much like hanging around them. While they were there, Simon's senses perked up and alerted him - gave him a familiar nasty sensation in his guts. He looked up, into the cloudless early-evening sky, and saw a pale brown dragon, all too real. "E'tan," he breathed. Or, just Eton, said a mental voice, clearly in his head. Either Simon had gotten lazy, or E'tan had grown better at his telepathy. Or again, as the voice pointed out, perhaps I am not trying to attack you as I used to. The way that E'tan said this betrayed an odd sensation. This was not the same E'tan. Something had happened? When the brown dragon landed beside tiny Kemroth, nearly everyone in White Valley had scattered. They knew this dragon too? Alone, then, Simon stood on the sandy outcrop overlooking the little Renegade township. Their dragons communicated carefully to one another, neither man reading their thoughts. They both turned away from one another, as though disgusted. "So you impressed a White," E'tan said, taking off his riding jacket and helmet, which Simon had never seen him wearing before. He looked much more professional. "That's quite a job there. Congratulations." "... Thank you," Simon said, wary. "What are you doing here?" "The same thing you are," E'tan lied, "just exploring." "You're on business, E'tan, don't lie to me." Simon said, curtly and narrowing his eyes. "My question is what business is it?" "Astute as ever," E'tan muttered. "I've come for more breeding materials. I'm a Breeder, that's what I do." "You're a criminal," Simon said, lowering his head but not averting his gaze. He'd long learned how to stand up to his aggressors, something that his father taught him on the side, in addition to all sorts of anatomy, healing, teaching and socialization. Aggressive socialization was something that Van of Carramba was quite good at. "I... yes, I am." E'tan said, almost seeming proud of himself. "But I am also in business. Competition, really. So if you don't mind, I'm going to find who I am looking for, and be back with them shortly." "What, you're not using the same 'force them and leave them' technique as before?" Simon spat. "Has it ever occurred to you to ask before stealing someone's time or body?" E'tan turned and looked at the rebellious boy. The boy had grown up - he was close to 200 years old. However, E'tan was closer to 800 or more, no one knew because there was no one around who had known him that whole time. So Simon was still a 'boy' to this yellow-haired pale skinned man. "Never, actually," E'tan said at last. He pushed Simon aside, with his narrow shoulder. Shortly, from the township below, there were several shouts, and an angry flapping of wings. It was as though a field of flitters were erupting into flight - but really it was one or two of the local oddities. Heavily Bred escaped Slaves, who had then found one another. Their mutations were so queer that even Simon barely recognized some of them as Human (or, Zekiran, as they really were). One had a carapace like set of wings, which snapped open and carried him into the sky. Another had static electricity dancing around her like a halo, and she vanished into thin air with a popping sound. There were other, more normal types - two of which E'tan appeared to want with him. They didn't fight him - Simon knew their actions all too well. But he too could do nothing, knowing that they were still Renegades, still within a certain amount of time when their Owners could be looking for them. If they wanted to be free some day, they would do as E'tan said, and be returned not really worse for wear. They had already been through enough, Simon thought. But... Simon still didn't like the thought of what E'tan was doing. He'd never quite gotten why the man was doing what he was - taking apparently random people and breeding them together. Perhaps they had powers Simon didn't know about, or perhaps they didn't have powers, he wanted to normal-out something else in another person? Simon should have been born a Breeder, not a Slave. He had the eye for it, if not the true education. Two of the more normal looking people from White Valley crept upon the back of the pale brown dragon, nervously. E'tan mounted up, while Simon watched. They soared up, into the evening sky, and vanished into the Nexus. Simon didn't like it one bit. He wanted to turn to the other inhabitants of the Valley and yell at them 'why can't you stand up for yourselves!' but he knew the answer to that already. E'tan would turn them all in, if they resisted. Simon's curiosity got the better of him, though. He sprinted to Kemroth, clung on to the narrow white shoulders, and said, "follow him." Follow... follow him? "Yes, Kemroth, follow him. I want to see if he's still in the same place and time." Simon said, grimly. The complexities of dragon minds came in handy. They didn't really know where E'tan and Utainth had gone, because they simply didn't tell anyone. But, the dragons had been in communication before hand, and there was a place that was high on the brown's mind, according to Kemroth. An island, off the coast of Kiran's Black Point. They flew into the sky and waved at the remaining Valley inhabitants, then concentrated on that place. * They arrived while it was brightly daylit, though after noon by a bit. So it was the same day, perhaps. The isle was almost entirely uninhabited, save for a building near its center, and some huts along the rim of the jungle. The beach framing everything was quite beautiful, Kemroth would blend right in with its sand. They landed and Kemroth told Simon, there is no other dragon here. They have gone off again, and I will not follow a cold trail. We've done that enough.** "All right," Simon said. "But I'm going to explore, while we're here. No sense in leaving a perfectly nice island like this unexplored." I will be waiting. I will warn you if they come back. "Thanks." Simon said, and walked toward the first hut he thought he could see. The thick parts of the jungle made it hard to traverse, until he found what looked to be an old trail. It was quite overgrown, but still visible, so that told him that the place wasn't regularly inhabited. He stepped carefully into the hut, which was largely empty, and sniffed around it. No one home. The trail led inland, probably to that big building. That was obviously where anything was going to be found - so Simon steeled himself, and set off. It took him nearly twenty minutes to hike into the jungle, and up the slight incline to the clearing where the building sat. It was a cement and stone, nicely made place. Looked professional enough to be a lab. If this was E'tan's place, that's certainly what it was. Simon thought he heard something in another room, when he entered the main hallway. The building wasn't all that big, but it looked as though it might just be the top of the iceberg. Underground labs could be filling the whole island, for all he knew. He silently explored a bit and then headed toward where he thought he had heard something. In one room, where there were three people (two of whom were asleep or perhaps in trances), only one walked around at all. She was tall, lean, muscular. She had dark brown skin, was barefoot with oddly shaped toes, and had long straight brown hair. Her ears poked out over the small headband she wore, and her clothing was suited to this warm equatorial area. "I swear I can never just get anything done without being interrupted," she said, her voice was slightly nasal and a bit chilly. "What is it now?" She turned - but froze. This was not who she expected to see, this was a stranger? On the island? Her hand (which had three stubby fingers and a thumb, a strange trait, but one which Simon was naggingly familiar with) fumbled toward an alarm button on a piece of machinery. "Wait, wait," Simon said, holding his own hands out. "Please, I didn't mean to interrupt- I'm here - um," he stammered suddenly, why was he here?! The young woman's face was smooth, round, but had long lines beside her downturned nose, dark green eyes gleamed out from her rich skin. "... Who are you?" She asked, putting her hand down. Her heart was racing. Something was really wrong. The pair of sleeping people nearby stirred a bit, until the woman turned back to them and exerted some kind of mind control on them. She was actually placing them into a dreaming loop - which would last until she took them out of it again. How Simon knew this was beyond him - his own power over dreams had only barely manifested itself. "I - my name is Simon, I'm ... I was looking to follow E'tan, but he's not here at all is he?" Simon said. "... No, he's not. He did come by earlier, but I've been working alone for some time." She still hadn't removed her eyes from his, she kept gazing at Simon oddly. At last, she said, "why do you look just like me?" Simon's heart stopped, or at least it felt as though it had. His hands and limbs got cold. "... oh." Was all he could get out. "You know why?" The young woman said, tilting her head. She looked strong, nimble, less green than Simon did. "Tell me!" She sounded rather more excited and curious than demanding. "... You don't know where your mother happens to be, do you?" Simon said, weakly. He glanced around a bit, but wouldn't find her here. "My mother isn't here, she's at the Vin facility." Then suddenly the girl inside the woman snapped wide awake. "You're my father. That's why." "I think so," Simon said. "I mean, it couldn't be anything else. I have siblings but none of them are like you. And ... it was a long time ago, for me, but you can't be older than twenty..." "Lord E'tan sometimes talks about you, but only in passing," the girl said. "Oh - I am Demona. And you are Simon." "Simon on White Kemroth," Simon announced more formally, drawing himself up a bit. "I'm a dragon rider, now. I ...wasn't, when I knew your mother." "She never speaks of it," Demona said. "That's because E'tan made her forget me." Simon said, sadly. "I... didn't want it to be that way." "No one does," Demona said. "But that's the way he works." Simon looked around, and then his gaze went to the pair of people on the comfortable looking lab platforms. They appeared to still be sleeping, not really tied down or anything, but not moving. "Oh, I'm working with them. Would you like to see?" Demona said, almost hopeful. "I don't get anyone real here any more. E'tan doesn't allow visitors. He'll be furious when he finds out about you." "No, I don't know if he will be," Simon said. "And yeah, what ... exactly are you doing?" Demona went to the pair, they looked like normal everyday people - to Simon's eyes they were still a bit odd because they were Zekiran, so 'normal' meant deeply red skin on the one, vibrant yellow with green spots on the woman. "I'm catching their thoughts, and downloading them to this machine. It can record their memories." Simon's eyebrow went up, "why?" "Why not?" Demona asked. "Because E'tan wants them, that's why. I can't question my Lord, can I?" She was neither sad nor affronted, by that, but seemd affected none the less. "You do not approve of this." "I ... don't know what to say. I think I just hate E'tan enough to question anything he does, no matter how typical it might be for you to do it." Simon admitted. "What do their memories tell you? What would he want from them?" "You're awfully curious for a coward," Demona said, offhand. That was obviously what E'tan had taught her, about him. Yet, she did not refuse to tell him anything. "They are land holders on a particular plot of land. He wants to know if they've ever seen anything like this:" she aimed a clear picture of an odd stone into his mind. "But they're not really the most perceptive of people, so just asking them didn't work. I need to sort through their memories, so I'm placing them here," she patted the recording device, "and then I'm going to look through it later." "Seems like time consuming work for just a rock." "It's not just a rock... but if you don't know about that I'm not really supposed to tell anyone about it. It's important, that E'tan stay away from it. He'd like to have it all drawn up into one place, but there seems to be a bit more of it than we'd first thought." "Abducting people so you can find a rock that he's supposed to stay away from..." Simon repeated, the short version sounded a bit more ridiculous than Demona's assesment had. This was not lost on her - she was at least as intelligent as he, and she began to smirk. "It... does sound a little odd, doesn't it?" She said. Simon approached her carefully, while they were still laughing. "Please, um, you understand I just want to - make sure you're real?" He said, his hand carefully up and seeming to tremble. Demona smiled, her small lips pulling back to reveal big white teeth - Van's teeth, really. She grasped Simon's fingers and put them onto her cheek. High cheeks, like her mother Devotion's. She had longer fingers and more toes than Devotion had, but the strength in her eyes seemed to come from somewhere else, not even from Simon. They did not know it was her grandmother, Avaur's, trait. "I'm real. So are you. It's nice to finally meet you. Sometimes I'd wonder who you were, what you were like. Since my mother is ... well, she's a bit spacey." "It's no wonder," Simon said. "E'tan treated her like dirt. His own daughter." That made Demona stand tall and still. "... What?" She said, hard and distant. "Oh - oh," Simon breathed. "You didn't know..." Simon went silent. "No, I did not know." She said, each word clipped. Suddenly her demeanor went from sweet and helpful to somewhat enraged. It was not focused on Simon, and for that, he was extremely thankful. "How could I? He owns me, he didn't say anything like that. He never mentions it to anyone - how did you know?" "Because I'm immune to his mind wipes," Simon said. Demona blinked. Carefully she approached again. "Really." Simon nodded. "Then that explains a lot, doesn't it?" Simon's eyebrow went up again. "The fact that he allows me to be here, alone, working for him. Not traveling with him like my mother - attached to him because if his powers weaken around her, she'd remember who she was." Demona stated, rather flatly. "It makes perfect sense. He can't control me, he has never even tried, that I recall." It suddenly made her feel sick. This revelation that her owner, her Rogue Lord Breeder Etan was her grandfather? How was she supposed to react to that?! Demona sank into a chair, her strong fingers clutching the arm rest of it until it broke open revealing the stuffing inside. She hardly noticed. Simon wondered what to do. "I ... I'm a dragon rider," he reiterated. "I heard. Good for you." Demona said, blandly. She barely blinked, staring straight ahead. "I can take these two back home, if you know where to show me they live," he suggested with a wave at the pair of Land Holders. "And then we can take you out of here too. To where ever you want to go." "Why would I want to go anywhere but by my Lord's side?" Demona said, a hint of pain and sharp anger in her voice. "Because he's not telling you - or anyone - the whole truth about anything. He didn't tell me what his intentions were, when he bought me from my mother. Because he's a criminal, and he's insane." Simon tried to keep it from sounding too much like a list. But he'd had many many years to think on this matter, and no one to tell the results to. Until now. "And because I can just take you away and give you the freedom to go where you want to go, and because you're my daughter." Simon added, more softly. It took many minutes for Demona to think on this. Normally, Simon would never have tried rushing anyone on this kind of decision - to leave her Lord, or to run away from home. It took him long enough, anyway. But she had the benefit of a bolder heritage than he had - and a more flexible Lord indeed. Simon absently wondered how much of his own mother's madness this girl would have inherited. It seemed to have passed him by, largely. "You could take me away?" Demona asked, tears in her eyes. Simon was getting wave upon wave of emotion from her, now. It hadn't been easy to identify, but her emotions grew stronger and stronger until the young woman broke down in tears. Simon embraced his daughter - his daughter - for the first time, swaying with her until her tears subsided. His kept coming, but he was used to that. "I will if you wish me to." Simon said, to her question. "I do wish." Demona said. "You said you'd take care of them?" "We'll do that first, I'll show you how it's done." Simon smiled, and helped her out of the chair. "Can you convince them they haven't been taken away from their home?" "Not really. That would be something that Etan would do." "Then they'll have to live with it, he'll get them later." Simon announced, "wake them up." She did so, disengaging the machinery which she'd been working with as well. The pair woke up, disoriented, panicky. Simon's senses flaired up, he could tell they were quite scared. It had been a long time since his Zekiran-born senses had gotten this much of a workout. It was odd, like hearing a sound again after ages of deafness. "Kemroth will take them, and then us." Simon announced. Demona looked to the sky, where the bright Kemroth swooped over the trees. Her eyes lit up, and her face became young again - she always looked so serious around her Lord or even her mother. "He's beautiful!" She cried. "He's not at all like the dragons I've seen!" "That's because he's not from Zekira," Simon said. He explained, albeit briefly, that Kemroth wasn't from this planet - nor was Simon, really. Demona gave Kemroth the clear information about where the couple's Homestead was, and while they were still a bit confused, the people did understand the concept that they'd be teleporting away to their home - hopefully to live undisturbed again. Kemroth had a bit of trouble with both of them on his back, they were not exactly skinny people, these Land Masters. But he managed, flew up, and then vanished from sight. "That's amazing," Demona said. "Lots of off-world dragons can do it, most of them in fact." Simon said. "If you want, I could bring you to some of the weyrs or caers they are bred in." "Could you? I'd love to see them. They sound fantastic." Demona said, waiting, scanning the sky for the return of this beautiful white dragon. "Then that's what we'll do. But I do want to take one more side trip first. It's kind of important." "I don't want to mess anything up," Demona said. "I'll try not to be in the way." When Kemroth returned some minutes later, Simon smiled and laughed at Demona's worries. "No, I think you'll actually want to be in the way. I want you to meet your other grandfather."
(had been demona2.htm)
Slightly stunned, Demona hesitated, when Kemroth came near. The dragon wasn't big, really, she'd seen bigger ones but without the great wings and legs. The Kiran desert was a place where many amazing things could be found, and those snakey dragons of theirs did not compare to this beauty. He tossed his head, and looked at Demona with his intelligent, swirling eyes. *You are safe now. I will keep you both safe.* At that mental touch, Demona knew that her father meant well - and that this dragon and he would do their best to protect her from her Lord's wrath. E'tan, as Simon would call him, with that little stutter after the E, would indeed be furious. Demona wrote out a little letter to him. 'Had to go. Won't be back. Don't bother looking. I turned the lights off before leaving.' She pondered whether to address it to grandfather Etan or not, but decided that would probably give it away. Not that Simon thought that they would be outrunning E'tan at all, he knew better than to think he'd never guess where she had gone. Especially not after having run into him so recently. Simon showed his daughter (he kept repeating that to himself, in his head, his daughter) how to get onto Kemroth's back, properly. He had long since neglected to use any riding straps, after their rides and flights, he just didn't feel like trying to replace them time and time again. Demona commented that wouldn't they be safer with straps or something? And both Kemroth and Simon gave off the same kind of laugh. "I didn't know dragons could chuckle," Demona said, with a grin. "Well, hang on." Simon said, behind her. He'd placed her in front, so that she could really appreciate the view. That way too, he'd be able to hang on to her, look at her, every moment he had was happy doing that. "We're going to lift off. Kemroth's stronger than he looks," he said, and mentally added you better be! The white's wings spread again, and they lurched into the air. Kemroth didn't comment that he was indeed stronger than he looked, but both of them weren't exactly tiny either! They soared over the island, it really was a pretty place, nice and warm. "You're going to get quite cold," Simon said, abruptly, remembering that he'd had almost two centuries to get used to traveling the Nexus. "I should have warned you!" It's like holding your breath, Simon said to her, mentally, just relax and close your eyes. It's scary the first few times. "The first few times we tele-" Demona started to say, but her words were cut off with the teleport itself. The Nexus was so chilly it was almost warm, on Demona's exposed skin. She'd wanted to say that she'd been through it before, after all, but couldn't do that in the time before they went. Strangely, to Simon at least, there weren't many invasive little minds creeping around the Nexus when they went through it. Maybe they were giving him some quality time. They arrived at Carramba High school's Saturday Afternoon Bash - just in time to see a bunch of wobbly balloons lift into the air in a sky race. People in baskets below them waved and laughed, and then pointed and cheered when Kemroth arrived. "Hey! Kemroth's here! Simon! HEY!" yelled one girl, laughing from her basket. He'd become quite popular, as his father was, maybe moreso because he wasn't quite as scary. Kemroth descended to the courtyard, near the Speakers' Square, and people who weren't already watching the balloon race came to greet them. Most of them just wanted a good look at either the rider or the dragon. But then they saw the gorgeous dark-skinned girl with Simon, and most of the guys had little heart palpatations. "Hands off," Simon said, smiling but serious. "She's my daughter." That placed a whole lot of pitiful looks on girls faces. Hardly anyone there knew that Simon was even old enough to have a baby daughter, let alone one apparently just out of her teens. Simon singled out a young guy in the crowd, a skinny one with several pierced parts and ripped cutoff shorts. "Hey, Chester!" Simon yelled, surprising Demona because his voice had rarely gotten above a strong lull. "Where's my dad?" "He's in his office, downstairs, trying out some new equipment. I wish he'd try it out on me..." Skinny boy Chester sighed. "Did I hear right? This is your girl?" The odd young teen slunk up to Demona and looked her over. "We'll have to get her something else to wear, Simon boy, she looks kinda tribal. That look is out." "Well I did live on an island," Demona said, flustered. All these people! And they were hardly batting an eye at her ears or fingers, or toes, so maybe they were okay. She'd been told that even those little oddities were looked on badly by many people. Apparently, these folks weren't like that. Not at all, considering the way they looked at her. She rather liked it. That would be Grandfather Van's influence, there. Simon took Demona's hand and walked her away from the commotion, the balloonatics in the air were having a hard time coming down now that they'd gotten where they wanted to be. Simon walked around a couple buildings, to the area between two which was known as T'angle Way. He lifted his hand indicating the building on the north, "Humanities," he said. Then he pointed right, to the south, where they were headed, "Physical Sciences. Dad's office is in there." "What's he like?" Demona asked, worried. "Will he like me?" "He'd love you otherwise," Simon said, knowing the way Van looked at women like this. But they were related, and at least he had the tact to resist his own relatives. Unlike some other people in his gene pool. "But he'll like you. You've got more tech-ed than I do." Simon admitted. "You'll have lots to talk about, I bet." Excited, fluttery in her stomach, Demona looked at the rooms as they passed them. Some few of them had large windows open to the hallway, others were mere doors which had a plaque she couldn't read on them. Most likely, they said 'do not enter'. They reached another door, open, to a room which had about a bazillion gadgets and tools strewn about. "Aw, dad this place is a mess!" Simon said, startling his father who had on welding goggles and was working with something that resembled a metal "wicker" chair. "I'll clean up later, or better yet I'll get Chester to do it," said the man. He was not quite as tall as Simon was - he wasn't Zekiran, he was only human after all, which meant that Demona and he were about the same height. He still outweighed her by a good bit, all muscle. He blinked, vibrant blue eyes crinkling up around the edges. "This is Demona, Demona, this is Van Sanger, my dad. Your grandfather." He stated clearly, as though if he didn't say it, Van would somehow not 'get' it. He got it all right. A big broad smile went over his thin lips, something that was all too rare in other circumstances. Their whole family could stand to smile more often. They said nothing, but Demona giggled and broke down in tears again. She threw her arms around him, as she could never - would never - have done with Etan. Over the afternoon, while Simon was out flirting with a girl named Ixoh in the student lounge, Demona and Van got aquainted. It was true to Simon's word, that they did have much in common technically - Demona demanded to see the rest of his tools and checked out a big computer that he was busy gutting. She offered to help figure out what was wrong with a particular microwave-satelite unit, coaxing it with her powers until it worked properly of its own accord. Van thought this was great. Demona asked him about their family, and he got rather quiet. "We don't really talk about it all that much, Demona," Van said, softly. "Your grandmother was a student of mine, here. She'd transferred in from another world, somehow. One of the earlier Zekiran students, we have a bunch now. But she was working on a project at home, that project was Simon. And, something happened to her outside of here, when she was carrying him. She's never quite been the same. Sometimes she comes back here wanting to find him. If you ever do meet her, Demona, just hit and run. Don't hesitate. She's completely insane." "Oh." Demona said. This was not the kind of news that she really wanted to hear. "What about my other grandmother?" "I don't know," Van said. "I know someone who does know, but I don't think they were on good terms. She didn't live very long, I don't think. She was... harboring a criminal. Someone on many worlds, who has never done me any good." His demeanor told volumes, when he said, "good riddance, on any world, to that trash." Of course, Van didn't know that the Zekiran Renaud was Etan's son. Who did? Well, Simon did, but he had never really spoken of it. Wisely. Demona and Van worked together on trying to piece their histories up. Van complained that he never had enough time to work on a project over the weekend, and Demona had to ask what a 'weekend' was. With the patience that he was known only to give his lovers and close friends, Van explained anything and everything that Demona wanted to know. Of course, then it was her turn, when he asked her to demonstrate those powers over machinery that she had. She had a field day, playing in his office. Though he technically taught only one Physical Science class (Practical Anatomy), he was always tinkering with something down here, when he wasn't lurking in his apartment with his room mate - who apparently was some kind of angelic creature. Demona wasn't sure what that really meant, and certainly didn't get the joke, when Van commented on her name and his room mate's being so utterly opposite. In the end of the long day, Simon came back and wondered where they were going to be sleeping that night. It had been a very long day, for both of them. "You can always crash in my place," Van said. Taking them to the glass and concrete structure that was the on-campus Faculty Housing building, and giving a little verbal tour of the place, "In fact, you take the nice bedroom, too. I'm going to hit on Gabriel again." "Not again," groaned a tall blond man, who apparently answered to that name. He staggered through the large apartment, on his way to what he hoped was a private night, and was interrupted by a rather evil laugh on the way that came from Van. "I guess I'll be on the couch, you rest up. I'm used to traveling." Simon announced. Demona nodded, she was quite exhausted but so utterly happy that she'd never even experienced this before. She had always been responsible, working hard, deferential to her Lord. But she had never been just able to lay out and laugh, to design something of her own, never allowed to be around this many people she'd hardly had the chance to become vain. She lay in the warm, wide bed that Van would normally have been stone asleep in, and let her mind wander. Her power over dreams took her to other people in the campus, sleeping. While she was still awake enough to use the power, she gathered that this place was a nexus itself, attracting many people from dozens of different worlds. She didn't know how that was possible, but she knew that she'd be benefitting from it, somehow. *** In the morning, Van was making breakfast for 'whoever wanted it', and that tall blond Gabriel man was sitting looking rumpled in a chair that was clearly 'his'. He occasionally glared at Van. "You couldn't possibly learn how to move over when you're sleeping, now could you?" "My hellish warmth too much for you?" Van mocked, a piece of bacon dangling from a fork in his hand. "Not in front of the kids," he smirked wildly. Neither Demona nor Simon thought that he'd 'gotten any' the night before - not from that guy. The little victory of being able to sleep in an angel's bed without suffering some sword-of-god retribution was obviously enough for Van. They'd been doing this for decades, anyway. Demona picked at her food, wondering if it tasted as good as it smelled. She'd rarely been given really nice food, either, but enough to live on and become strong. Nothing extravagant, certainly nothing that was prepared by her other Grandfather. This one seemed endlessly proud to even look at her. She still didn't know what to think of that. "We'll be going on a tour, if you want?" Simon asked Demona. She nodded, mouth too stuffed full of eggs-n-chili-peppers to do more than that. He eyes watered with the chili peppers, but she gulped it down none the less. It was the most wonderful, exotic dish she'd ever had, and if she could, she'd be having it more often. "So let's see... Where would you like to see first? I wish I could take you to Talor Cliff, where I bonded with Kemroth, but they closed up after we were there." Simon gave off a little wistful sigh. He had had such a great time there, they really showed him how to live, after all. "I know, how about Vella Crean!" "They're having a clutch," Van said, absently. "How did I know that?" He glanced at the calendar on the wall, which had a bunch of little pictures of dragons on it, "Oh yes, because it's listed on the wall." "You're cheating," Gabriel said, having come from his sulking chair to the table to join them. He didn't want to admit it, but seeing Van have a nice family get together was far more important than him dodging any of the dark skinned man's advances. "Win at any cost," Van said. "You've got time, see them all." "I do," Simon said, "but I want to make sure that Demona does before dragging her off onto all creation." "She's got a good long life ahead of her," Gabriel announced, oddly. "Sorry, just a habit." "It's all right," Demona said, smiling. He had an aura of such power around him, so completely different than Simon or Van. "Thank you. I'd asked Lord Etan about that once, but he said he did not know." "I'd believe that," Van said. "He probably didn't know. How could he? I'm a wild card in your genetics, Demona. I shouldn't even exist here, yet here I am. I'm out there a couple more dozen times too. Like you," he said pointing to her. "Maybe different eyes, or a new name, but you're out in as many dimensions as I am." "Let's not confuse her, with that just yet," Simon said. "Thank you, yes," Demona added with a grin. "So what's this Vellum place?" "Vella Crean," Simon explained. "Or Dun Keiba, or maybe Ryslen?" He went on about the different weyrs and caers and dens, nooks and aeries, castles and keeps. Zekira wasn't the only place to have dragons after all, and they certainly didn't all come close to these others. Some offworld dragons had four wings, some many heads. Usually they had four legs, but some only had two. They came in as many appearances as Zekirans did - colors might mean one thing on one world, and something totally else on another. After breakfast, they went to the student store, and bought Demona some warmer clothes. Even the weather at Carramba High, while nice and warm for California, wasn't even as balmy and wet as the island where she worked. It was Sunday, the campus was more deserted than yesterday. There were still teachers and staff wandering about, and groups of kids who wanted to check out the school. Kemroth had been joined by a tiny blue, who chirped happily and tittered something that almost sounded like he was talking. He was talking to Van, though. "No you cannot go with them. We've got some other places to be, you remember." The dragon sounded a bit downcast. "You get to mate, don't even chirp at me like that." The dragon perked up again, and fluttered off. Even compared to the white, that dragon was little. So they came in as many sizes as colors, Demona learned. They mounted up again, and bid a temporary farewell to Carramba and their family. * It was several weeks worth of travel later, when Kemroth announced that he'd located a place that Demona should be at a certain place and time. Simon jolted a little, his eyebrows furrowed. "She's to stand? Are you sure?" He asked. Demona knew now, that this meant that for some reason, Kemroth thought she would be good on her own dragon. "Are you certain?" She asked him, "I mean, I love flying with you!" Then you will love flying with your own dragon, won't you?** Kemroth asked. "I... I guess I would!" Demona was excited all over again. They'd been to more than two dozen places, and at one of them, found a small egg that Simon pressed into Demona's hands. He told her to keep it warm, so she kept it close to her body at all times. It was heavy, this little egg, it wasn't like an egg you'd crack for morning breakfast! When she felt a bit of a tug at her side, under her sweater and near her skin, a sharp pain danced through her. The egg was cracking! She took it out into her hands, and gazed at it, while Simon and Kemroth looked on. "What will you name him?" Simon asked, when the little bronze had hatched. "He came from Tripaldi." "Then, Tripper is his name," Demona said. She was so happy - and suddenly felt a little pang of hunger. The flitter's emotional state ran through her, and she had to grasp at Simon's hand as he offered her something from his travel sack. He always seemed to have something, in there. The bronze gulped back a bunch of food, and then almost immediately went to sleep. "He's got such vivid ideas, little dreams. How cute!" Demona said. "Now, I have to keep him fed, huh?" "Yes," Simon laughed. "And warm, because we should get to Calyeni caverns now." "Will they like me?" Demona asked, the hesitation in her voice painful. Some of the odd weyrs they had been to didn't much like seeing a girl with pointed ears, let alone one who was head and shoulders taller than most girls her age. She claimed to be about 19, but that might or might not be true. "I think they will. I know they accept some odd candidates, odder than you anyway." Simon assured her. Demona tucked Tripper away into the folds of her clothing, and they headed out on Kemroth once more. Calyeni cavern was a wonderful place, they were greeted by a green watch dragoness. There was a tingling sensation in Demona's mind, something told her that Kemroth was right - here was where she belonged, if only for a time. Really belonged, as though if she were anywhere else, it would hurt her. She'd never known this sensation before, even while at the other weyrs or Carramba high - though that place gave off a welcome feeling too. They dismounted and Demona looked around. Tripper had awakened and was perching on her arm a bit wobbly. "I want to be here for a while," Demona announced, when the woman who took care of newcomers arrived. The woman nodded, smiling. "We've room. For you two, rider, if you wish to stay." She began to lead them away, when Kemroth gave off a bit of a bugle. Simon went to his side, and then bolted back to Demona. "I'm going to leave you here for a while, you'll be safe. E'tan is out there looking now, Kemroth just got wind of it." "You said you'd keep me safe," Demona said her stomach dropping. "And I will. You'll be safe here, and by the time E'tan knows what's really happened, you'll have your own dragon. He can't possibly do anything to you then. And I know you'll bond well, Demona. I mean, I did. Almost half your family are dragon riders, somewhere." She looked downcast, but then Tripper bit her ear and she laughed. "Okay - I'll do my best to stay out of harm's way. And when I bond, you'll know?" "I think we will. We'll be keeping tabs." Simon hugged her warmly, almost tossing Tripper off her shoulder. "I love you Demona, don't ever forget that. I wish that I'd been there for you when you were growing up - but I didn't dare come back. I'll keep him busy while you're here." She'd never heard those words before, I love you. She faintly mouthed them, but could say nothing because a huge knot had formed in her throat and she couldn't get anything to come out but tears. Kemroth and his rider left the Cavern, but Demona didn't feel alone any more. Somewhere nearby, there would be a dragon for her - waiting in an egg.
(had been demona3.htm)
Tripper had grown a bit in the time that Demona and the other few candidates waited for the eggs to hatch. They were all joined by a brightly-dressed woman, a warrior by her looks and demeanor, but Demona didn't much want anything to do with warriors. Calyeni got busy when the eggs began to hatch. A number of minutes after the bugling went up, the candidates including dark-skinned Demona arrived to see - there were already a half dozen hatchlings on the sand! They'd hatched without them! She was faintly disappoited, but Tripper on her shoulder cooed and calmed her. There were lots more eggs, two dams on the sands saw to that. The hatching went well for lots of dragons - they were healthy and happy to find one another at the sands. Perhaps they knew one another before hand, because Demona was certain their minds were quite active before hatching. They were smart, these beautiful dragonets. They knew their names, their parents, and who they would bond, if they were indeed interested in that. Most appeared not to be interested in the humans or near-humans present, though, and that seemed to worry a few people. So intense was Demona on the sands that she didn't even see her father show up in the stands above, summoned by the riders to this rather intimate hatching. There weren't many people there to watch, and he had been leading Etan on a wild chase for several days before. Demona would learn the whole story later, but for now... A gasp went through everyone - especially the locals, when they noticed the golden-green colored dragoness who had just hatched. She was mutated from her parents, surely - she had scales! They were lovely, shining in a dance of greens and yellows, golden and grassy. *You are a telepath, no?* She asked of Demona after showering nearby people with bits of egg shell and sand. "Yes, Pwyllith, I am." Demona said, not even surprised to know the dragon's name. It was in her heart, after all. In her soul. And now, here standing with a smirk on her muzzle. The dragonet looked up at the bronze fire lizard who nested in Demona's hair on her shoulders. He's cute. Hello Tripper. She looked back at Demona, Like rider, like dragon, she said. Demona wasn't sure what that meant, but she knew that this bond was pure, and solid. They'd never be parted, not even by Etan.
(had been demona4.htm)
Demona thought about where she would go next. Like her father Simon, and her other varied relatives on dragon back, she was likely to drift across worlds and universes. As Pwyllith grew strong and wise, she decided that she would like to catch a mate. "You know that means that I'll probably be found by some man, too," Demona said, pushing her long hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure I want that just yet." I think you will like one just as much as I will, the dragoness said. Demona could never argue with her beautiful green gold. So she collected some items and headed back to Carramba High. There, they had a dragon riding class that was headed up by one of the Kshau Protectorate's leaders. He was tall and cute, with fluffy white hair and eerie static grey eyes, pale white skin. H'lis was a bronze rider, and she thought perhaps that if his bronze and her green-gold got together... *He is much too large for me. I am not a gold's size, my friend.* "You're close," Demona suggested, but Pwyllith shook her head. Synesth is gigantic, bigger than most golds, or so I have heard. Pwyllith commented. I will find another mate - perhaps among these at the school, there is always a gathering of them. It was true, too - there were dozens more dragons this season than there were last, both bonded by students and staff, and some just coming to be there themselves. But for the time being, she was coersed into going to another place: Eriol's 'backward Frenzy' where she flew well! She paired with a bronze, Tamiarth, and together they had a small number of colorful offspring! But she eventually wanted more. By the time that Demona was considered a Senior at Carramba, since she'd been attending classes on and off for a few years, and because Carramba was situated at a nexus point, no one ever really worried about age categories or 'pg-13' stuff. Heck, they had childcare for the students - run by the students - at Carramba. It was time for Pwyllth to find another mate. This time, among those fancy newcomers at the school itself!