He was bored. The aliens hadn't attacked near Noa or Lantu in weeks, at least not while he was awake at night. Hilhuio fielded a couple calls from distressed and distant lands, and at least could help them get the right dragons into the air against the alien threats.

But it wasn't enough, really, to keep him occupied. His delicate skin cursed him to remain out of the sunlight, so he cursed his delicate skin. He trained plenty of dragons to respond to commands from their handlers, those who weren't able to do it themselves. But the Stone dragons near his Lantu home were less exciting than those he handled in Noa, the Sky dragons who flew strongly and required bravery beyond just standing behind the lines and telepathically commanding them.

He had considered getting into Forest dragons, because they flew as well, but they were too shy and submissive, too afraid to directly confront anything unless their nests were disturbed. Boring.

But there were other dragons out there too. Ones which looked a little like ... well, they looked a lot like someone had spliced a Stone dragon with a Sky dragon.

They had wings and legs, and came in much bigger sizes than most of the Zekiran dragons. So one night he decided to tap one of his contacts and find out just exactly where those dragons came from. Threen had been a Slave, but she was, like him, a Dragon Master now. And, she had plenty more than just your typical Zekiran batch of creatures to her dragonry.

The first thing that struck him about Threen was her arms, of course. She had four, and used them constantly. But what he found funny and appropriate was that two of her dragons had four wings.

And those dragons, draks she called them, could speak. They spoke in lispy tones about their home and how much more fun it was here because of the alien landings. Threen let them speak, they were obviously smart enough to hold their own with any given person. Hilhuio finally got from them that they thought another of the off-Zekiran dragons would be able to bring him better luck. They could sense he wanted something more.

Something more came in the form of a beautiful woman on an equally beautiful golden-colored dragon. Amaranth gave Hilhuio the once over, she had the Breeder's Eye - and a Breeder's status pin on her shoulder as well. It looked as though she approved of him, paleness and all, because the little smirk that her perfect tiny lips betrayed he'd seen before.

"Ata....ah, I don't actually know what your full title is," Hilhuio stumbled over words - he hardly had contact with someone as beautiful or as powerful as Amaranth.

"Oh, nevermind about my title," she chuckled, "it's so long... Atasenne Breeder Dragonmistress. I much prefer if you'd call me Amaranth." She extended her hand, it looked delicate but she had a firm grip. "Now, I hear that you're interested in offworld dragons, are you?"

Hilhuio nodded, his mop of hair bouncing a bit. "Sky dragons are, I think, the best - and that one looks even better than the ones I've had come through my training house."

"Oh now you've gone and done it," Amaranth muttered. "She takes every compliment like it's the first time someone's noticed her." The Night-Gold dragoness looked like she was ignoring her rider, but sniffed all over Hilhuio and he didn't hesitate to reach out to scratch her nose.

"It just so happens that there are some dragons you may be interested in, good fliers, a bit different than you might be used to though." Amaranth studied his reaction to this: he was definitely excited, but so far he didn't really betray much emotion to her. Perhaps it was his way - perhaps he was just that stable. "Dragons could use a good, solid presence like yourself."

"Thank you, Amaranth," Hilhuio bowed, reverently. "I would certainly appreciate ... um, directions to this batch of dragons..."

"Well I'll be happy to take you, but you'll need to pack up some clothes," Amaranth said, "it's ... it's a distant world, you won't have heard much talk of how we get from there to here after all."

"Why is that?" Hilhuio said, as he wrote out some requests on an e-pad and handed it off to one of his Budak. The slave hurriedly went up to his rooms and did the job quickly enough that Amaranth didn't really have time to fully explain the whole deal.

However, she did manage to mention that a certain Paveh was often responsible for keeping the peace when information did escape... In other words, Hilhuio realized, once you're in this little clique of dragon-riding friends, the rest of the world could go hang. They didn't appreciate snooping around, but they did understand potential where they saw it.

And frankly, Amaranth was seeing way more than just potential for a dragon, in Hilhuio... They were almost the same color in skintone, even if his skin was so transparent. She could certainly put her Breeding degree to work on him...

Shortly, the Budak arrived with his bags: two satchels with typical gear of robes, wraps, leggings, pants, vests and head-protection for outdoor wear. It was all fairly light-weight, after all when someone must wear clothing, it should be comfortable!

Then, as Amaranth explained how they would teleport away from Zekira and into this 'nexus' of worlds, her great Night-Gold Racynioth bowed her head and shoulders so they could climb atop her neck. Reasonably well-hidden between her wing-shoulders, was a bit of a pannier, there was a harness that Amaranth unfurled, one which Racy clipped over her own neck using dexterous clawed hands. With the baggage in the pannier, and flight-straps securing the pair to the big dragon, they took to the sky.

It was hardly the first time that Hilhuio had flown, he was one of the rare Dragon Masters who dared to sit on a dragon in flight. He had actually flown into battle this way, which was something that was all but unheard of on Zekira, but was apparently the standard in practice elsewhere.

Amaranth felt Hilhuio lean with each gliding turn, anticipating the movements of her dragon. She gave a little telepathic warning: we're heading Between now, and he clung closer to her slender form. Amaranth got a little giddy and thought to herself, not now, not now, not now...

***

Why did you not notice it before? Racy bespoke her rider, who had dropped Hilhuio off in the candidacy area of Akelara's dragonry. She had then insisted upon finding a place to reside for the duration - she'd wait for him to be selected as a bonder, or what Amaranth thought would be far more appropriate, as a sponsor for multiple dragons. He could certainly handle them mentally and physically.

"Because I'm always an idiot about it, Racy! You know that!" Amaranth paced around in her room, as Racy took in the alien sun on the ledge. "And anyway why didn't you notice it before!"

Oh don't you accuse me of any silly broodiness, Racynioth hummed to herself, smugly. It's your heat, not mine.

She paused, raising her burnt-gold head to examine her rider, and added, and besides, you think he's worth having. Why not enjoy it?

"I... I just don't want him distracted on the sands," Amaranth lied, mostly to herself. She was having one of her 'fertility events', and it was true that Hilhuio seemed pretty compatible with her own genetics. But she'd have to do something about his skin condition, or... maybe she'd just... let it be.

***

Down below, Hilhuio was introduced to these most beautiful and massive of creatures. They bore whatever slight resemblance to Zekiran dragons, but that was purely physical. They had limbs, and they had wings, and they had colorful markings... and psionics - he could only think of it in that term, because Zekirans just didn't think "magic" was enough of a word to describe their powers. (And he would be right... for Zekiran powers...)

Those around the dragons saw how easily Hilhuio took to walking among these giants of dragons, even if it was a strange world, these were probably the most amazing creatures that he could see... And perhaps... he'd bring them home with him.

Oh what jealousy there would be when those dragons took to the skies to fight!

Now he just had to sort out why Amaranth had blustered off the way she did, the way she looked at him before said she'd be amenable to a bit of intimacy... but he wasn't so sure now, and he wasn't really adept at reading those high-class women. Or at least, that's what he thought it was. He couldn't know that it was all her, his lack of true socialization skills wouldn't hurt because no one could predict what she'd do when she was this way.

Perhaps... Hilhuio found himself thinking, he'd come away a true Dragon Master, and perhaps have an heir to his training halls!

***

It wasn't even past lunch time, but Hilhuio and Thahaidy - the other Zekiran that had come to this wonderful place for the hatching - knew that there were hatchlings ready to be seen, on the sands.

They wasted little time in getting there, along with everyone else, and abruptly noticed how many little hatchlings were already moving about!

Hilhuio was finding it difficult to move. Around the time the hatchlings had mobbed the group of incoming candidates and sponsors, a golden dragoness from Raindraught's clutch had wrapped herself around his legs and tripped him neatly onto the sands. She had then promptly sat on his chest and shoved her nose in his face A feline-esque face (from Nauji's clutch, surely), with a blood red muzzle that faded to fire red fur, peaked around the golden dragoness' shoulder and gave him a once over.

"Are we taking this one home, Saza?" The feline-dragon questioned the dragoness, his voice tiny but low.

The dragoness giggled, ::Of course we are!:: she shot back at the little burr on her back (for the kitten was perched on her back, riding her). Then, to Hilhuio, she said, ::I'm Sazador, and this is Ketell. You're ours now. Well, more mine than Ketell's, because you're my bond, but if you dare ignore Ketell...:: She let her threat drift off, as a tiny lick of flame escaped her jaws. A firebreather!

"Ignore!?" Hilhuio laughed, finally able to find his breath, "I don't think that's even remotely possible!"

They were dears, amazing and long and beautiful! And they knew they could fight!

Later in the evening, when Amaranth decided to show up again, she offered an apology and an explanation. She'd taken a few days off, she claimed - somehow, she'd traveled back here through time, and arrived to just after the hatching had concluded. She'd worked off the frustration of her 'heat' with no one around, and came back to congratulate both Hilhuio and Thahaidy on their multiple-dragon finds.

"They're truly beautiful," Amaranth said.

"So are you," Hilhuio replied quietly, and Amaranth smiled and blushed. "No one could hold you responsible for being rude, if what you've said is how it happens. I can't blame you. Though, truth be told..."

"Next time!" Amaranth laughed boldly, "next time, I'm going to invite you, and we're going to get to know each other much better!"

"For now," Hilhuio smirked, "I will be getting to know these two better." He played with the sleeping dragons' tails, thinking the better of tying them in a knot.