Story Originally written early 2000s, originally on paveh_hold and ablan_cherry_festival or I don't even know it's been duplicated everywhere. 6 pages!

Ten is the product of long years of work, and dedicated theft of genetic materials on the part of BreedMaster Vanya Sengihr.

Originally made as a simple slave project, Ten quickly became something far more important to the dark-skinned man.

Because of his strong genetic background, Vanya was always sure that Ten would have certain mental abilities. Certainly his mental abilities match in strength the obviousness of his physical 'deformities'.

It's true that when Vanya created Ten, he intended to remove the tail -- if not in breeding then at birth. However, since 'birth' involved a clear-plastic artificial womb and a darkened delivery room... Vanya simply never quite had the heart to do it.

It's grown on the Breeder. Of course, that may just be Ten's intermittant mental interferance. The disgust that Vanya showed for the pale-blue boy at first was vibrantly clear to Ten, even as a very young child. His mental powers had surfaced long before he was even removed from the creation machinery.

That same disgust both angered and enfatuated the young spliced child. His keen empathy and mental prying abilities continued to grow up until his ninth year, when Ten did something quite extraordinary.

He insisted that Vanya put him back into one of the 'healing vats' to force his body to mature further than his years. Was it the prodding of the young boy's mind? Or was it that Vanya was genuinely curious as to what would happen next? Ten knows, but he is the only one, and he is not talking about it.

He would never be like his father Engell. Of course, he would never be like his father Aeroch either. Ten paced in his comfortable quarters at Behat, wondering where Vanya was, if not in his considerable telepathic range. It didn't matter. The cycle was complete and Ten wanted to see the expression on his creator's face when he saw the results of his latest 'growth' spurt.

He'd gone from the body of a nine year old, into a young man, within two weeks. The vats could support more growth, but Ten didn't much feel like removing the potential years from the other end of his life. He stood just under what his pale-skinned father Engell did, which wasn't all that tall considering Vanya's height. His tail didn't grow to that beautiful lay-across-the-floor length that Aeroch's did, either. But that was all right. He barely fit into the vat because it was made for a normal Zekiran, not one with his anatomy, and it made him uncomfortable looking at the device now.

How he squeezed out of it just this morning was amazing considering that he'd crawled into it at just over half his current size. Ten shook his head and continued to dry his silvery-graphite colored hair. At least it was the right color, the right length... He tied it back into a tail, the way he'd seen High Master Aeroch wear his own darkly silver hair.

Not that he'd ever actually MET the man. How could he? For just over nine years Vanya had successfully hidden him from both his fathers. After securing the cell samples he needed to work with, Vanya usually worked in secret. He also usually worked at the facility in Fi'ir, where his other father Engell had his huge Bonding corporation called Alabaster. Aeroch worked with Alabaster occasionally. He was a judge of some kind -- Ten wasn't quite sure because Vanya had absolutely no interest in legal matters. As long as Engell cleaned up the slate after the insane Breeder had his way with something -- or someone -- that was all he really cared about.

The thing that Vanya usually complained about, though, was that Ten was 'imperfect'. He was so imperfect that occasionally Vanya even threatened to end the Slave's life. He certainly hadn't reported the 'birth' to the authorities, and had never entered Ten's genetics into the Breeders Net, so no one really 'knew' about the boy. No one would really know if he vanished either.

Ten really wanted to be accepted. That was it. He continued to pace, fretting with the clothing which he'd managed to ask for. The people working at the Behat breeding facility were very busy workers. But a half a moment of one or two's time was not much for the young-turned-mature child's mind to tackle. He diverted a woman from the outlaying region to come into the clinic and deliver a small shipment of 'cleaning supplies' to the door of Vanya's private experiment chambers. Ten then managed to get them into his room in a similar manner, by manipulating people's perception and planting suggestions in their heads.

It was remarkably easy. After all, when your fathers are two of the premier mentalists on the planet, and neither of their powers seemed in the slightest dimmed by being spliced together, the only way you could go was up.

"That's right," Ten said to himself, his voice still high and musical even though it was just a touch deeper than his 'childhood' one. He did think his face was too pretty yet, that he would never quite look like an adult. But then again, Engell's son Kyl was very much like that. His own boyish looks would never quite leave him, even as he grew into young adulthood.

So the more he looked like a beautiful young version of either Aeroch or Engell, Ten knew, the more he was likely to be acceptable for his Master. There was still a tinge of anger, why did he think that everything slightly off of physically normal was 'imperfect'? Kyl... was a naga, after all. He had no legs! And Vanya'd Bred him! He never complained about that... With a sigh, Ten slumped into one of the curved bowl-like chairs popular in this area of the world, and waited.

It was nearly midnight when Vanya finally arrived. He was in a foul mood, too, something had gone wrong with one of Alabaster's interrogations and he was just about ready to explode. Ten's heart raced. What would happen if he decided that this experiment which he'd demanded be done to himself wasn't up to his Master's expectations? What then? He'd been known to 'accidentally' kill people, not just while interrogating them.

Ten decided that the best thing to do would be to be calm, be collected, and be strong. That was one thing which Vanya always responded to, the strength which he himself didn't have. The outside doors clattered open and shut, but Vanya himself made not a sound other than a little bit of cloth-snapping-behind from his long robe, as he entered the inner chambers.

It was almost as if the Breeder didn't remember he had something going. Ten gently pried into his Master's mind, and saw a delicately done piece of machinery smashed to bits in his memory -- their subject had a lot more physical strength than Vanya expected and managed to destroy a very expensive piece of Alabaster hardware, before being killed.

"No wonder you're in a stormcloud mood, Master," Ten said, quietly and hoping that his voice didn't startle Vanya into a rage. It did startle him, but with the realization that he had been missing out on a wonderous change in his Slave over the last few days. The raven-haired Breeder turned to see Ten, and before he could stop himself Vanya smiled broadly.

"Well, yes. It was a ... bad day." He admitted, moving closer to the now-taller Ten. Ten's heart still raced, what-if-what-if-what-if... "You have changed," Vanya stated the obvious, "admirably well. No growth pains in your joints? Limbs feeling good and no numbness?"

Ten shook his head at each question, he was feeling fine, he explained. Just fine.

"Good. There is a ... party we're to attend tomorrow. Mirage is demanding it of me, and she's decided that she wishes to see what's become of you. She was not meant to know of you, properly." The accusation in Vanya's voice was plain to Ten.

"You have brought me to her parties before, Master, need I remind you? She does know of me, she always has. She is Mirage, after all." Ten said, with a slight tilt to his head, and a lilt to his voice which softened Vanya's anger a bit. The Breeder did have memory lapses, and it was no surprise to Ten that that PARTICULAR party was a vacant blot in his mind. If he could have wiped the memory completely, Ten would have done so long before. "Let me calm you, Master. You have had a long day, and I wish to show you what ... our experiment has brought me."

It was a quick walk into the center of Vanya's Behat facility, along a beautifully crafted chrome and steel catwalk. Vanya was visibly nervous -- afraid of heights at even just a few spans above his head. He was more apt to cling to the wall anyway, while Ten walked with confidence beside him on the railing side.

"It's a great center," Ten commented, trying to keep his Master's mind off the distance to fall. When they got to an area where two catwalks converged, Ten finally announced with his hands balled up on his hips, "Vanya, you're too agile and strong to worry about falling from such a little distance as this. Why I've seen you leap half again as far almost straight up. Come along." He held out his clawed hands and waited for the Breeder to grasp them.

At last, and with a reflexive anger-turned-resignation on Vanya's part, they walked together down to the more 'residential' area of the facility. Once there, Vanya realized that Ten had, in fact, grown up.

"So it did work, properly." He stated. There was an edge of curiosity in his voice, and Ten smiled broadly.

"Of course it did, Vanya. I mean, Master, they're your devices and your programs, and besides I already came from one vat. What's so different about being in another?"

Laughing, Vanya gazed with a pleased look at his creation. There was still a hesitation in his mind, that Ten almost resented. Vanya was still well aware that within the body of what appeared to be a teen-to-young adult lay the mind (or what he percieved to be) of a ten year old. He shouldn't be thinking about him this way.

Sensing this, Ten drew his hands over Vanya's cheeks gently. "Vanya, my Master, you know I've never been a child..."

With a drawn out sigh, Vanya remembered that he too never had a childhood. It, like any shred of innocence he'd ever had, was long beaten out of him. He had taken it out on Ten, knowingly, and now seemed to regret that fact.

Was it that Ten's deeply affecting manipulation of Vanya's mind nudged him that much farther along? Or was it just that Vanya had had enough of the games and politics and pain? But the dark skinned man's eyes drew up with tears in them. He couldn't meet Ten's brilliantly aqua-colored ones. Defeated again.

And something in Ten smirked in victory. No one ever claimed that the boy's fathers weren't cruel. In fact both of them were known to have strong senses of it. So why did anyone expect otherwise from this beautiful boy? How could they -- when he was so sweet looking! How deceptive, his shell.

"Master, come along. Let me give you a massage and then get us dressed. So, this party... Where is it, exactly?"

Ten led the way again, as usual, even as people gave them odd looks. The employees at the Behat facility ranged from Bonds who did basic paperwork and cleaning, to Free Workers and Land Masters who kept people rolling along... On up to the other Breeders who rented space to do their own clinical work, their Bonds and Slaves attending them. There were many people in this huge building. Not one of them questioned who Ten was. And if they ever had, he'd removed that thought from their minds with a bit of a headache and a twinge in their temple. They didn't know why they couldn't remember who he was, they merely looked away again as if that headache would return if they dwelled on him too long.

The Slave and his Master arrived at Vanya's inner sanctum, a home within a facility like this was not uncommon. Too tired to leave and head for somewhere half a world away to sleep? No problem, just fit one of the recovery suites to your liking and label the door. There were patients around, pregnant women and their husbands, or their donor friends, nurses and the like. Only the return customers knew better than to think that Vanya was really all that terrifying. Some of the younger ladies had to be coddled down to remember that Vanya was a proven breeder -- only when they acutally bore a child did they see how easy he could be dealt with.

Now why couldn't he be like that all the time? They would wonder. Ten slipped under the radar of these people too. Just another slave helping out his BreedMaster...

With caring, new hands, Ten administered a long and sensual massage to his Master. The arts of body manipulation had been something he learned early on, if Vanya needed sore muscles moved around, it was to be by a professional hand. And it seemed tonight that he needed a lot of attention - more than just a soothing hand. His mind begged to be hurt, yet Ten couldn't bring himself to deliver pain in his mind at the same time as his fingers worked their relaxation.

Ten found that his new, adult-sized body, could reach more easily around Vanya's body. Could hold more shoulder-joint, could deliver a deeper and more pointed pressure on a muscle. Vanya visibly appreciated this as well. Yet he was still holding back something, still Ten could tell that Vanya was revulsed by his tail.

Leaning over Vanya's long form, Ten said, "you know, I can balance much better with this tail. I'm in no danger of slipping and falling on you, not like that one girl you had here."

Vanya, half-sleeping, snorted a laugh. "I remember her, good hands, clumsy body though." Ten found Vanya's hand gracefully locating the tip of his blue tail. "Ahh, but what about if you're off balance?" the Breeder laughed, sitting up and pulling Ten's tail enough to knock him on his butt. "And are we going to have to make new chairs for you?"

Ten was relieved. In half a moment, and without any prodding from his own mind, Vanya had seemingly decided that if he's got a Slave with a tail, so be it. Good for him. In fact, good all around. "No, I don't think so," Ten answered. "But I think you're doing yourself more harm than good, getting up all quickly before I'm done with your massage!" He inserted a typically-accurate pain twinge into Vanya's mind.

Producing the expected result -- He expected it anyway. Pain and sex always made for an interesting time while Ten was merely an observer. Now... The feedback was incredible and Ten teetered on the edge of sanity himself for a while. Vanya's uncle Darkhanis had warned him that he was to stop hurting his Master this way -- yet what he didn't know wouldn't come back to haunt him would it?

It was almost four years later, after many parties and a lot of time spent hiding among Vanya's other Slaves, that Engell found out about Ten.

Aeroch had learned of him about two years before, at one of Mirage's private parties. She could control her ex-husband well enough that when he saw the boy he merely nodded and said, "You are not Inheriting from me." Ten was fine with that. He wanted no part of unearned money.

Odd, wasn't it? He thought. So many rich Holders and Owners waited for their parents and distant relatives to die so they could pick over their estates. Not Ten. He'd managed to get himself set up in a sort of job with Vanya, picking and choosing what he'd do for a day or so and then attending to his Master's needs.

But this other party... Engell had shown up out of the blue -- never uninvited, but just not expected tonight. Aeroch and some other law-field people were there so perhaps he thought he'd attend out of curiosity. Well, his curiosity was piqued all right. Who was that pale blue lad? Why did he look so much like Kyl? In those aqua-blue eyes was the obvious answer.

And in Vanya's vibrant peacock-blue ones, a dangerous challenge. Engell didn't even once speak to Ten. He merely looked at the boy, sought out his interrogator's form, and made a bee line toward the tall man. They argued, quite loudly, at this party.

Something they would have been chided for, thrown out for, had they been anyone other than two extremely powerful and terrifying men. Vanya's physical form and his Breeder status, along with his obvious and well-known insanity, made him dangerous. Engell's keen business sense and his extreme psionic strength gave him an edge in the world of High Holders that very few could beat.

And there they were, yelling at one another about a young boy who shouldn't exist.

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Aeroch had managed to step between them, by the time Mirage realized what was happening. She, along with any other psionics in the large room, could feel the anger and tension that High Master Engell was broadcasting. Most of the empaths had long since vacated, and several others had collapsed with the energy they felt. Mirage carried herself to Ten, instead of trying to intervene with the men.

"I had no idea he would be--" Mirage gasped, then placed her pale fingers on her temples. "Stop them. You are the only one who can."

Ten gazed at the beautiful woman - the mother of his chosen partner Shatter, the woman Vanya loved more than life itself, the reason most men had ever wanted to attend any party - and lowered his eyes. "Mistress..." He breathed, "I cannot stop this. It's been brewing for a very long time."

Mirage clung on to the now-matured Ten's shoulder, almost as if she were using him as a shield from the men beyond.

But Aeroch had managed to pry Engell's mind off of Vanya's, something he was obviously used to doing in his courtroom on occasion. "Act civilized," he hissed, and his long tail swished in the air between them, thick enough to knock someone off balance should he swing hard enough. "Both of you. Engell, what's been done cannot be undone. Back off." He aimed something at Engell's mind, privately, and the pale-skinned HighMaster's eyes grew wide and even angrier.

"You knew about this travesty!?" Engell yelled at Aeroch, but simmered down when he looked toward Ten and Mirage. He snarled at Vanya, "you're fired," and turned from the room.

The tension in the room did not quite abate, Aeroch turned and delivered Vanya a scathing mental commentary -- thankfully sparing everyone else in the room, perhaps save Ten -- before following his status-peer outside. Vanya stood with his hands limply by his sides, eyes closed, weak.

"It is a good thing you have your other facility," Mirage said, quietly, "isn't it?"

"He doesn't mean it," Vanya whispered, hopeful. "There are still people he needs questioned, and that is my job. He knew well enough that I work in trade for cells. I made Kyl for him at his request, he had to know there would be more than enough genetic material left over for later."

"But you usually are meant to ask for permission to use it, dear one," Mirage said, trying to soothe him and apparently failing. Ten meanwhile looked around the room and then back at High Mistress Mirage.

"May I ... calm them?" He asked, one of the few times he'd actually decided to ask before doing something -- he at least learned the lesson to be found here. Mirage nodded, apparently unwilling to wipe her guests' minds herself. Some of them fought it, a couple even admirably well, but they still lost the battle -- Ten's mind was far stronger than those left in the room, even Mirage's wasn't equal to his. She had sway, she had power, and influence, and she had the one thing which Ten lacked: experience.

But that was all. And she certainly did not lack a daughter fit for Ten's level of breeding. Ten decided to take the remaining party goers and put them in a more cheery mood, asking where their drink went and hasn't the race at Limir been run yet?

Ten then slunk to his Master's side, and clung on to him gently. Mirage kissed both of them on the cheek, and went outside to see about Engell and Aeroch's moods. She wouldn't find them, they had both left the area.

"Master, it was going to happen sometime. He didn't mean it, did he?" Ten sounded just as hopeful as his Master, when asking about his employment at Alabaster. Vanya shook his head, with more confidence.

"He's dealt with worse things, in the past," Vanya said, attempting to bolster his own mood. "Once he calms down we might have another talk about it. About you," he amended, with a soft glance down at the shoulder-height young man he'd made out of nothing but cells.

Mirage insisted that they remain at her home that night. The mansion was usually left with one or two couples, or a passed out few, who needed places to remain while they slept off their evening. But this was more special. Ten was escorted to Mirage's guest quarters, which were to say the least spacious enough to put Vanya's whole Emer home to shame. He did not pry into either of their minds as Mirage led the distraught Vanya into her own private chambers.

It was true, Engell hadn't fired Vanya. But he remained so cold and distant when next Ten saw him, he wondered if the white-haired man who was his father wouldn't rethink that all over again. Pacing, so unlike his normal calm demeanor even with a hard client, Engell shifted his glare off his illegally-gotten son, and back onto his annoying interrogator.

"Aeroch informed me that he merely dealt with this by pointedly excluding him from his Inheritances. I'm going to do that very same thing, if you don't mind." The caustic tone of his voice made both Vanya and Ten aware that they were riding on very thin ice. "I do not want you coming to me for anything in the future," he looked at Ten, who nodded. "And I expect that if I ever learn of something like this from you, in the future..." He just allowed the sentance to hang in the thick air before Vanya nodded.

"I did not mean it as an insult, Lord Engell," Vanya said, eyes down but head proudly up. "More as a measure of respect to your ... extremely superior genetics. Aeroch's complimented yours nicely. I ... realize that I ought to have sought permission. But neither of you would have given it, and it is my perrogative as a Breeder of my Degree, to do so whenever I please." He raised his vibrant blue eyes to his Lord Employer, "kindly do not forget that, sir. I would hardly be able to keep my Breeding Degree if I did not ... extend the level of exploration into that area."

Surprisingly, Engell thought into Vanya's mind -- and either by accident or on purpose, allowed Ten to listen in -- and said, 'you could have given Kyl a tail, but no, he has no legs. Was he just practice for you?'

But Vanya did not respond. He only smiled slightly, and bowed out with Ten in tow.

They made it out of the Alabaster building and onto the quickest hoverplane back to Emer. Ten dutifully dulled Vanya's senses on the trip, wondering why there was something hovering oddly in the back of his mind, which Vanya was acually able to keep secret from Ten the whole time. Something bigger than he expected, and something which Ten couldn't have known would affect his life so much.

Two years had passed, while things got roughly back to normal for Vanya. His employment was not really in question after all, Ten realized. But his own... What about Ten and what he was to do?

He was a Slave. Had been all his life. He'd been educated only by Vanya and a scant few others while at the Emer Inheritance of Snow. As a Slave's education went, of course, that meant his was far better than average. He knew a lot about machinery and the workings of cells, genetics and medicine. He'd been fully trained as a pleasure giver, a masseuse, and personal groomer as many Slaves were. But his particular abilities to deliver psionic pleasure, pain and memory-searching were what he knew he ought to be exploiting.

If only Vanya had some kind of ambition. He didn't. He was a typical Breeder. His ambitions revolved exclusively around producing more 'perfect' people than his competition. And since perfection clearly didn't include him, Ten was made to watch as another specimen was created -- this time out of more willing subjects -- for Vanya's personal use.

Ten was curious about the process, even while he was a part of it. But there was more than curiosity there. Vanya had told him long ago that since he was spliced together there was a good chance he was going to be infertile. That both his fathers were normally so had little to do with the outcome, after asking to be checked, it was true. The beautiful son of men who did not wish him to exist could not actually sire his own children without clinical assistance.

Well, that certainly wouldn't be hard to come by, here. Shatter was the one who would pay for the service, Ten would ... arrange it. Some day.

That day would have to wait a bit. Vanya was nervously mulling something over, while Ten brought him something to eat. He'd pick at it, as usual. Ten would wind up eating it, if he felt like it. Theirs was an oddly casual slave-master relationship.

Until the evening that Vanya slid a piece of paper toward Ten, at the dinner table. "Here," he said. "I want you to sign this."

Reaching out to take it, Ten furrowed his graphite-colored brows and muttered, "why? Is it important?"

"I believe it is," Vanya said. Ten was distracted from reading what was on the paper by Vanya's furious scattering of mental energies. Worry, hope, desperation, demand for forgiveness, fright, all those things vyed for space in the Breeder's mind. When Ten picked the paper up, Vanya said, "It's your Raising papers. I'm paying for you to be a Free Worker, Ten. It's... the least I can do. After all I've put you though."

Ten blinked. This was hardly -- well... It was unexpected, and it wasn't even something that he'd planned to force out of the Breeder. After all, this was a good gig if he ever saw it. He got to exersize his own slightly twisted energies on a man who really liked having his brain burnt, didn't have to pay room and board like a Bond, and got to go to all the best parties when he reminded Vanya they'd been invited.

After a minute of just staring at the paper, Ten gulped a bit, and then leaned back. "Got a pen?"

Ten adjusted to his Status quickly. Of course. His fathers learned of the Raising at yet another party, and at least this time both of them had the sense in their heads to shake their son's hand and congratulate him. They weren't happy about having their offspring be a Slave after all. Even if he Just Did Not Exist.

But it was hard, too. The Emer Inheritance was considered his home, and Vanya insisted that he'd take nothing for any room or food he used. "You make a lousy Bonder," Ten told him, and Vanya nodded.

"I know that, I've always been bad with money... Why do you think I work for Engell? He pays me, and keeps my books." He shrugged, "I haven't a clue how much money I've actually got hidden away after all."

Ten was born to a life of interesting work. But now, what to call himself? What to DO with his talents? He couldn't very well just wander about claiming to be a personal head-jockey (that was one term he'd heard, there were many more derrogatory ways of putting it). Help came in a very odd form.

It was with a crashing sonic boom, in the skies above Osini Bay, at first. The first cadre of alien warships come to land on Zekiran soil trying to reclaim it for their own. The year was 10365, and the invasion had begun.

It was so odd seeing people frantically get into action. Ten swung into his own easy way of manipulating people. He could keep the masses calm, he could incite them to riot, with a touch of his strong mind. He felt the butterfly-wings of other very powerful psionics looking in on him, but he merely announced that he was 'officially ignoring' them, and they went away.

Someday he might join them, but for now, he was reveling in the joy -- and the profit -- of keeping people from being too terrified to live their lives. How odd that his original use for this power was to keep Vanya BEING terrified. He thrived on it, lived to be frightened and needed to be held afterwards. What an odd man.

Ten was more practical about his relationship. Shatter and he decided that after a few years of this rapid climb through Status, they would indeed be able to just sweep into Vanya's lab and demand a child be made from them.

While he earned his keep, hoarding away credit after credit, Ten also seemed to be plotting something. There was no reason he felt compelled to love Vanya for his existance. He had indeed begged for forgiveness for all the things he'd said, or done, but Ten had not given it. He was put to work, he was still enslaved, created only for a thrill. How low. Ten's disgust at his own creation grew, he actually began to understand how his fathers felt. Not entirely, of course, but he realized how presumptious Vanya had been in creating him at all. How abusive his early years had been -- he was flawed! This tail and that claw and ... Not perfect? Well. Perfection was in the eye of the breeder after all.

Ten never aspired to become a Breeder himself, though he wanted to dabble in the psyche arts. No one would sponsor him, he couldn't keep his own deeds private enough while they searched his memories -- they don't let just anyone become a psyche healer these days you know...

But there was a new aspiration. Everyone was gearing up, Alabaster's long-hoarded weaponry was being put to use, now. No one even knew they'd been MAKING weapons of war, and no one -- for some odd reason (namely, Engell's mind control) really questioned it now. They couldn't make jets to combat the invading forces, but they could do something far better.

Ten was enlisted to read the alien invaders' minds.

It was more than a thrill, it was a wild ride. He was taken to a place where one of the more powerful telekinetics held down a trio of aliens for their interrogation. Vanya was there, but Ten was the star performer this time. He approached the thick necked beings with a vague sense of disgust.

"How could these things invent something capable of transporting through hyperspace?" He muttered. But the three beings were unable to understand his words. They grunted their language and Vanya attempted to translate -- he was always so amazingly convienent when they needed him to be. Brainy bastard.

"I can take your thoughts the hard way," Ten said, emulating Vanya's usual phraseology from his work, "or you can give them to me easily. Which will it be?"

One of the beings spat upon Ten's shoe, and the boy became a frightening man, in just a few beautifully silent moments.

"I know what they fear," Ten spoke, smiling carefully and with an almost evil tint.

When Ten implanted images of things into the trio of alien's minds, they all but died of fright. The most gratifying result they could muster.

"We can't hope to control all their minds, not at a distance," someone said. "And we certainly can't contain them all. They just keep coming."

"Then let them come," Ten said, "and we will have something for them when they get here. Something big. Scaley... They fear this."

Ten closed his eyes and opened his mind, showing off these odd shapes which the trio had provided. Deep, old memories of something big enough to eat them, preying on them in their distant past. Racial memories which Ten plucked from their very brain's DNA.

"Dragons," someone else said, "that's what they are called. Demons, heh." She looked about. "Anyone see a good Animal Master around?"

The relief on the group's assembled features was immeasurable. The effect it would have on the future of Zekira itself was beyond that.

For in the next four more years, while Ten went from Bonder to High Holder -- the fastest rise from Slavery in recorded Zekiran history -- almost every available Animal Master on Zekira re-designed their facilities to provide the world with its first true war machines.

Dragons. Fanciful things. Some were bred out of the long swamp creatures living in Tule and Yah, others from the snakes of T'dal's desert, and more from scaley limbed birds and beasts of the forest and mountains.

All to combat the threat coming from the skies in frequent waves. When it was possible, the Zekirans shot down the big black jet planes in order to capture their pilots. But more often than not they were merely shot into the seas where no Zekiran would voluntarily go.

Except for the ones breeding the biggest dragons of all... The Animal Masters responsible for them were the oddest of the bunch, and they bragged that within another two years, their dragons would make sure that every waterway and lake could be clean from invading forces.

Ten sat back and watched his own Slaves working on their latest project. He supplied foodstuffs for dragon bonders, at least here in Zogan. It was as far from Vanya's Emer snowy place as he could get, this warm and dry flatland. It was where he and Shatter were about to have their dreams come true as she bore Ten a lovely almost-white-blue long-tailed, spiney-armed and two-toned-hair daughter they named Tylee.

At just over twenty years old, Ten knew that his rise was over. He had really nowhere else to climb.

But there had to be something... Something more. His moment of fame would be recorded for all to know, everyone spoke his name that year. And he basked in it. He simply loved it.

He also loved how both his fathers suddenly scrambled to include him in their wills. He declined to sign the paperwork -- he'd earned his money, he'd have done it anyway, but more slowly for sure. There had never been a doubt in his mind, that he was born to be a High Holder.

But Ten wanted something more than that, and he knew that it had to do with this fight. He did not want fame, any more. He'd gotten enough. He had money, that would be coming in constantly with the feed projects and transportation engineering he did on the side (he was after all, considered to be one of the most intelligent people on the planet -- what Vanya really wanted out of him all along), and he had respect. But he had no thrill.

That was in the skies. He had no deathwish, of course, but he looked at the young riders, the newly formed Dragon Masters status, and he wanted it. It was totally irrational of course, he had only powers over human minds, not any animals. But he heard rumors of Zekirans going off world -- how?! -- and coming back with foreign dragons from a place where they apparently lived in reality. They didn't have to be fashioned out of other animals, like on Zekira. They were fierce and they breathed fire (lovely!) and they were very large. Some were tiny, some said to be huge.

Ten wanted to see them, at least. Be in their presence for a while. He was curious about the forest dragons from Cla, and had almost been toppled by the splash from one of the "as promised: huge" sea dragons... But these weren't something he'd ever see here.

He sent out tendrils of questions, every party he attended he dug around in people's memories as if he were a thief rifling through their belongings in a coatroom. When he found what he was looking for, he almost got a blistered mind. Someone else was guarding this person's mind, and he meant to find out what.

"Do I know you?" The grey skinned and elf-eared man asked harshly. "Get out of my brother's and my minds. It's very rude."

"I ... no, I'm sorry," Ten said, stammering because he did know who they were. They were Vanya's sons. Keshtel and Havish . Only, they were back? How? He'd sold them to Kyl's mother years ago. But... So far as he knew, they were working on her desert project.

He glanced about, and then apologized. "I'm very sorry. Y-- you are bonded to dragons, aren't you?"

A bit surprised, Keshtel nodded. His brother held his fingers tightly around a wine glass. "We are," Keshtel said. "Does that matter?"

"Well first you're attending a party where people DO think to thank you for doing so," Ten announced carefully. "And... You're my former Master's sons, aren't you? He..." Ten blinked, should he tell them? It would get points for himself, that was certain. "He truly regrets having sold you, you know. He has beat himself up for it for many years. But now that you're Dragon Masters, won't that change your situation with... her?"

He tossed his head gently, seeing that Savistahni was in fact at this party -- and perhaps they were here because they were still her Slaves? Ten's stomach twisted into a bit of a knot. How rude of her not to relinquish them to their proper Status.

"She has never been happy with it," Havish said, with a slight snarl on his lips. "But when we come back for good, she'll have to free us. Even if it's into Bond, there are hundreds of places willing to put up the money for Raising us."

Ten's heart skipped a beat. Now HERE was the opportunity he was looking for. "... I could do that for you right now," he said. He put his drink down, and strode over to the white-skinned naga-tailed woman. She was known for being quite the bitch. Well, Ten was known for being quite the bastard, so they were even.

She didn't quite know what to say when Ten cleared his throat and said, "I'll give you forty thousand creds for the pair of terraformers."

No one else knew either. Forty thousand?! She'd been given them practically for a song -- her genetic material and its free use, and about six thousand for the brothers. While it was true that they were still able to do their terraforming, they were 'required' to remain in the Dragon Mastery ranks whenever the aliens arrived. As such, they couldn't be forced to do any real work that might tire their minds out or injure them.

Ten supressed a smile, knowing every thought that was going through the woman's mind. He didn't even have to pry for it, they played out over her mask of a face. To anyone else in the room she seemed like she was merely pondering the offer. But to Ten, he knew she was thinking of the way they would benefit her if only they would go away. They'd been a pain in her side long enough.

Savistahni nodded, her blond locks bobbing around. "I will take it. Have you a cred transfer form?"

"Always do," Ten said, and produced what equated to an electronic connection to his bank accounts. It was as simple as that. Savistahni's nearby Bond was sent to get a copy of the transfer papers, moving Ownership of the pair into Ten's control.

As he did so, and Sav moved along to other more interesting patrons of the party, Ten slid back to the pair who were just... Aghast. They weren't frightened, but they were amazed. Stunned.

"You just-- to us, and -- she won't --" Keshtel said, and his brother nudged him in the ribs.

"Thank you, I think is what he's trying to say. We are in your debt, and are yours to command, Lord." Havish bowed low, with his hands held palms up in a gesture that Ten knew all too well.

"It's to raise you to Freeworker, guys." He said, casually. "Don't do that to me. But there is a condition."

"Of course there is," Keshtel said, wiping a tear from his eye. "But what is it?"

"That you take me back to your dragon home, so that I might see them for myself." Ten announced, and with that said, he noted the relief and giddy feeling coming off the pair. It wasn't much, but it was all he would need. If they wanted to be free, they were free.

Vanya might throw a tantrum, because of course HE wanted to be the one to do it, but HE was usually too thick headed with money to buy a loaf of bread. The brothers grew more ecstatic over the evening, but their dragons were willing to escort Ten with them, back to a place called Vella Crean .

They were not grown dragons, yet. They were different than Ten expected, too. Handsome, with room over the neck for a rider, and big flexible wings. Horns and ears, a curious appearance brought by their snouts.

He liked them immediately, but he wasn't sure about how they would react to him showing up out of the blue, on Vella Crean's sands. But that was something he'd have to go through, and it was the thrill he was looking for, after all.

Though he stood with dignity the first time, then with a bit of anticipation the next, Ten was rather annoyed the third time that the candidates had been called onto the dunes of Vella Crean's hatching area.

But they had the chance to rest between the first two - the last two times were today, and yesterday it seemed so likely that the eggs would hatch...

This time though, the very air was filled with something new. Ten could not quite feel each mind within the egg, but he was having a hard time filtering out everyone else's emotions. Some were angry, some hopeful, and some depressed.

Ten watched as the first egg of five broke open, to show a blue female. Ten wasn't sure why it was so unusual, but there was obviously something about a blue female that made everyone surprised. Then, a green male. Apparently an arrogant but strong one hatched. Another blue female, then a beautiful olive bronze - this one another female, and supposed to have been male by its color.

Ten was wondering why the fuss? Everyone came in so many different colors on Zekira he was hardly able to understand it.

Then the last egg was about to hatch. It made a very strange sound, breaking out with a sort of vacuumy froggy sound! Then the wings and tail, finally the head and legs burst out of the egg.

It was a beautiful golden shade, which didn't seem to fluster Ten at all. Gold was just shy of as valuable as platinum or other precious metals on Zekira - but again this dragon was male instead of female.

The hatchling stood up and then walked with a stride of confidence. But he walked behind his blue colored mother! The gathering of people chuckled, because of the comedic hatchling's antics hiding and peeking out.

At last, though, the dragonet picked himself up and walked towards Ten.

Are you happy now? No, you've got to be happy and satisfied. Who wouldn't be with such a fine specimen like myself? I'm so adorable, ain't I?

Ten's mind was filled with the male's voice, it was as smooth as the golden color of his skin, a truly marvelous feeling.

I know... My name is Arumdaoth, and when I grow up, I'll be bigger than the biggest dragon in Zekira!

"Well now we'll have to see about that, Arum," Ten announced happily. He hadn't been this happy -- ever, in his life, it seemed.

Proudly sunning himself, Arumdaoth glanced around the den and saw his rider snoozing peacefully on the fur-covered bed.

His dreams were troubled. They had spent a year here, whatever that meant. It seemed to Ten that this was too achingly long for his tastes.

Prying gently into Ten's mind, like rider like dragon apparently, the dragon learned of all the great adventures Ten wished to have, but...

At heart he was still a talker and not a doer. Was that his trouble? Well! Arumdaoth hardly thought that Ten had any trouble learning to ride him, he was a steady handed young man, and would have a long healthy life ahead of him on Zekira, fighting the aliens!

Wouldn't he?

Of course he would. Because Arum would protect him. He would be the best, biggest and most triumphant dragon ever. They could teleport to Zekira and back, even. Or to anywhere else, right? Of course.

Ten finally woke, and rubbed the back of his head to get his hair to fall the right way. "You've been in my head, sweet gold."

I have, yes. You do not mind. I am always in your head.

"Yeah I noticed," Ten said, smirking. "So... More flight exercise today? Or did the teachers decide to let us have a day off?"

You slept in, didn't you?

"Good point, Arum. You are hungrier than I am... Let's go down to the lake, find some fish. You can eat and I can take one back home."

You are braver than you know.

"Why do you say that, Arumdaoth?" Ten asked, putting on his shorts and a half shirt which seemed to drive the local girls nutty. That and the tail, he suspected they really dug his tail. "I mean, I like fish."

But you Zekirans are afraid of water, aren't you?

"Not afraid, just... Well, I suppose I float a bit better than most, I've got this tail. All flabby."

It is not flabby! You use it to balance, just like I do! We're a pair!

Laughing, Ten climbed onto his already-large gold dragon, and said, "we sure are..."

Arumdaoth and Ten flew high over Vella Crean's peak, and dove toward the mock battlefield, and the gold dragon blasted a firey breath that engulfed seven bundled 'enemy' forms in bright red flame.

I did it! I got them all!

Ten hooted from the dragon's back, raising his fist in the air.  "You did! We did!" Ten was young enough that he still was fond of letting himself go in times of great success - his fathers wouldn't fault him for it, and besides they wouldn't know.

They would only see the well-tamed, perfectly formed side.  The male gold climbed back into the air and asked, why would you only show them part of you?

"Because you're the only one who gets all of me, my friend." Ten answered, and that seemed enough for Arumdaoth.

Days later, they had finally packed up their things and gotten word back to Zekira that they should be expected.  Because of the difference in times in so many dragon dens, Ten's arrival would coincide with two others, his lovely half-sister Amaranth, and her distantly born brother Alchemy, both on their Ryslen dragons.

I will love to see them, we will all fight together!

"Perhaps, but I think our time needs us more than the future. I shall have to ask Alchemy, when we meet. Or, maybe we'll just go both places and times..."

I like that thought most! Let us go now!

Ten concentrated on the place and time where they were meant to meet, a dusty area of the desert near T'dal, where Amaranth was searched, apparently.  They left, sure to come back to Vella Crean some day, perhaps even to go to other dragon sites, showing off the big gold male was always a thought!